Unamboowe finishes second in men’s 100m backstroke heat :

Lanka’s overall captain Niluka in action today

Dinesh Weerawansa - Reporting From England

Sri Lanka’s overall captain Niluka Karunaratne will be seen in action on day four of the XXXth London Olympiad here on Monday. Sri Lanka’s undisputed shuttle king, who has won the national men’s singles championship title on ten occasions since 2000, is down to meet Kenichi Tago of Japan in the first round of the men’s singles Olympic badminton competition to be worked off at Wembley Arena here at 9.07 local time (1.37p.m. Sri Lanka time).

However, Karunaratne will face an acid test when he confronts Tago, ranked eighth in the world. Karunaratne, who is within the top 40 players in the world, is determined to make his presence felt though he goes out as the underdog.

“I will play my heart out to make the best use of the opportunity I got. I am looking forward to it with courage,” the Lankan shuttle champion told media.

Karunaratne is in London after a successful world tour, playing and training in some of the top tournaments and cities. Having won five titles during his competition cum training stint, Karunaratne last played in Poland before flying to the British capital from Warsaw.

He is playing the best badminton of his career and vowed to make it to the top ten badminton players in the world within the next two years.

Sri Lanka’s highest ranked women’s player in the world Thilini Jayasinghe too will be seen in action at Wembley Arena on Monday afternoon when she takes on Telma Santos of Portugal at 1.42 p.m. local time (6.12 p.m. Sri Lanka time).

This will be relatively a weaker opponent, compared to her first group qualifier against a tenth-ranked Thai lass. Jayasinghe, who in 2008 Beijing Games became the first Sri Lankan woman shuttler ever to play in the Olympic Games history, could not live up to expectations. She was the first Sri Lankan competitor to be seen in action during the London 2012 Games.

However, it turned out to be an inauspicious start for Sri Lanka as Jayasinghe went down to Ratchanak Intanan of Thailand in straight sets 13-21, 5-21 in a match which lasted only 21 minutes.

Though Jayasinghe showed some resistance in the first set, the Thai came back strongly to thrash Jayasinghe in the second set in nine minutes and with it the match. Ratchanak will now play her other group qualifier against Santos on Tuesday.

She is a much better player in the world rankings with so much of playing experience at the highest level. “I played well in the first set but found it hard in the second set. I was playing against the wind in the second set and found it difficult to control the shuttle. I am not demotralised and will try to play better in the next game. After all, it feels great to qualify for my second successive Olympics. This was not a gifted chance like a wild card but it was purely on merit due to my world ranking,” she said.

Besides shuttlers Jayasinghe and Karunaratne, the only other Sri Lankan to be seen in action on Monday is rifle shooter Mangala Samarakoon. He will be among 52 shooters who will compete in the qualifying round of the men’s 10m air rifle event at Royal Artillery Barracks from 9 am (1.30 p.m. Sri Lanka time) on Monday.

“This is going to be the biggest day in my life. It is a big challenge when competing with the top shooters in the world who train at this type of ranges all the time. But I am equally prepared to do my best for the country and better my personal best score,” Samarakoon said on the eve of his event.

Shooting Manager of Sri Lanka team, Rear Admiral Shemal Fernando said that Samarakoon has been given green light to compete in men’s rifle 50m prone event. “They have confirmed that Samarakoon could compete in his pet event as well. Hence, he will compete in both men’s 10m air rifle event as well as men’s air rifle 50-shot prone event,” he said.

Accordingly, Samarakoon will also be seen in action in men’s 50m rifle prone event to be worked off on Friday at 9 a.m. local time (1.30 p.m. Sri Lanka time).

Sri Lanka’s Heshan Unamboowe finished seccond in his men’s 100m backstroke qualifying round heat worked off at the Olympic Aquatic Centre on Sunday. Competing in heat one of men’s 100m back stroke event which had only two other competitors, Unamboowe finished second with a timing of 57.94 seconds.

Though it was not his personal best, his achievement is slightly better than his timing at the last FINA World Championships in Shanghai last year. The heat was won by Bradley Ally of Barbados in 56.27 seconds, followed by Unamboowe and Zane Jorden of Zambia (58.77).

Of the 40 swimmers who competed in six men’s 100m backstroke heats, the best timing was registered by American Matthew Grevers. Who clocked 52.92 seconds to win the heat no.6. In fact, all competitors who took part in the remaining five heats had better timings than Unamboowe, who finished 39th overall.

“My first 50m was relatively okay. But I did not swim well in the last 50m and that deprived me from going for the Sri Lanka record I expected,” Unamboowe said after failing to qualify to the second round. “I was really nervious, I have never been like that before.. Nevertheless, this was a good experience to know that the levels Olympics are all about,” he added.

Ryan Lochte deposed Michael Phelps as men’s 400m individual medley Olympic champion as he secured a dominant victory at the Aquatic Centre. The race was meant to be the first installment of a showdown between the two top swimmers but ultimately Lochte was never threatened and touched in four minutes and 5.18 seconds.

Brazil’s Thiago Pereira was second with Japanese 17-year-old Kosuke Hagino third, just a year after taking bronze at the World Junior Championships.

The American hero of the Beijing 2008 Games-Phelps, though, was third at the halfway stage before dropping out of the medals on the breaststroke leg, the Baltimore swimmer unable to claw back the deficit.

Meanwhile, New Zealand drew first blood in the women’s Hockey with a close 1-0 victory over neighbours Australia at the Riverbank Arena. Cathryn Finlayson scored the only goal of the game in the third minute when she swept home a penalty corner rebound from virtually the Blacksticks’ firstattack.

They continued to dominate possession but Australia created the better chances after that and could have at least been level by half-time. Georgia Nanscawen could have equalised from four yards at the far post but allowed the ball to hit her foot before she poked home. - LONDON, Sunday.