Asian champion in men’s high jump final today :

Sri Lanka pin hopes on Manjula’s leap

Dinesh Weerawansa reporting from china

Sri Lanka’s brightest medal prospect in athletics – Manjula Kumara Wijesekera, is due to compete in the finals of men’s high jump event at the 16th Asian Games here today evening.

Former Asian Championship Wijesekera is among the 12 finalists who each cleared 2.15m at Sunday’s qualifying round. With Sri Lanka struggling to find its first medal after today’s setbacks in men’s and women’s 400m finals at Guangzhou Games, Wijesekera will be one of the few expectations for Sri Lanka.

“I know it is a big day and it is going to be a tough contest. But I feel I should be able to make my country proud, that is my ultimate aim,” said the champion Lankan high jumper on the eve of his pet event. South Asian Games gold medallist Dilrukshi Priyadarshani too will be seen in action in women’s high jump which will be a direct final. However, Priyadarshani, who cleared 6.20m to win the gold at the Dhaka 2010 Games earlier this year, will have to come out with a vastly improved performance if she is to win a medal. Priyadharshani is no stranger to Guangzhou, having competed at the last Asian Championships here with a jump of 6.11m to be placed eighth.

Sri Lanka’s biggest disappointment for the day was middle distance runner Chaminda Wijekoon, of whom a medal was expected in men’s 1,500m event. But he made a sad first round exit after aggravating his old leg injury.

Running in men’s 1,500m first round heat 2, Wijekoon was in the lead after the first two rounds crossing the 800m mark in two minutes, 10.21 seconds. It was then that his old leg injury started giving trouble and the Asian Championship silver medalist was forced to slowdown his normal blistering run in the last round. That resulted Wijekoon finishing sixth with a time of 3:55.25 and finishing sixth in his heat to miss out a place in the final. He was carried to the team bus in a wheelchair as he had a difficulty in walking with the injury. Saudi Arabian Emad Hamed Noor won the race in 3:53.73, followed by Adnan Almntfage (3:53.79) of Iraq.

Sri Lanka’s medal hopes in the men’s and women’s 400m finals were completely shattered. Chandrika Subhashini, who was in the third place by the halfway mark but she lacked endurance when it mattered the most and settled for the last place with a poor timing of 55.05 seconds. Olga Tereshkova successfully defended the women’s 400m gold medal she won in Doha 2006 Games with a seasons best 51.97 seconds. Japan’s Asami Chiba won the silver in 52.68 seconds.

It was the same pathetic story for Sri Lanka in men’s 400m final as Prasanna Sampath Amarasekera too lost his grip halfway through the race to settle for the sixth place with a timing of only 47.05 seconds.

Qatar’s Femi Seun Ogunode had a personal best 45.12 seconds to win the first major title of his career – the 400m gold here. Yazo Kanemaru clocked a season’s best 45.32 to secure the silver medal. Amarasekera was almost one second behind his intended mark of 46.1 as disclosed on the eve of the final.

“Compared to yesterday, today is colder and I could not run my normal race. I have given two medals for my country in the previous Asian Games in Doha and Busan. I hope to make it with the men’s 4 x 400m relay,” he said after the race.

Lankans fail in cycling,squash

Sri Lanka’s Lakshman Wijeratne was placed 21st among 41 competitors who took part in men’s individual road race with a timing of four hours, 15 minutes, 04.31 seconds. Kam Po Wong of Hong Kong bagged the gold medal in this 180km race which included nine 20km laps, clocking 4:14:54.18.

Sri Lanka suffered a humiliating loss in squash as they suffered a humiliating 0-3 loss at the hands of Pakistan in the men’s pool A team event.

Navin Samarasinghe surrendered meekly under 13 minutes. He offered hardly any resistance, except in the first set, in going down to Pakistan’s Farhan Mehboob in straight sets 10-12, 2-11, 3-11.

Comparatively, Gihan Suwaris showed a slightly better form in taking his game to a four setter, though he went down to Yasir Ali Butt 12-14, 11-8, 1-11, 9-11 in 27 minutes. The fourth match of the tie saw Danish Atlas Khan beating Binura Jayasuriya 11-6, 11-7, 11-2 in 25 minutes.

World No. 1 Nicol Ann David dismissed Taiwan’s Annie Au Wing Chi 3-1 to clinch the women’s squash singles title and keep her career in the sport’s stratosphere, while fellow Malaysian Mohamad Azlan Iskandar followed suit in the men’s competition. David said she felt like she was on another planet after winning the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in October, and her feet have barely touched the ground since.

“I’m still hanging around (up there) somewhere,” said the five-time world champion after cruising to her second Asian Games title.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s archery team, comprising Nipun Seneviratne, Lakmal Rajasinghe and Indranath Perera, were placed ninth in the men’s team championship.

In badminton, Lin Dan of China won the men’s single gold medal, beating Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia by two sets to one - 21-13, 15-21, 21-10, in the final.

GUANGZHOU, Monday