Maduranga wins Silver in Javelin Throw

Prince Gunasekara reporting from Pune.

Sri Lanka’s Sachith Maduranga brought honour and fame to his motherland when he won a silver medal with a record throw of 79.62 metres in the javelin throw event at the 20th Asian Athletic Championship in Pune, India on friday.

Uzbekistan’s Ivan Sayacev who threw the javelin to a distance of 79.76 metres won the gold medal in the event while the bronze medal won by India’s Amirjit Singh with a throw of 75.03 metre.

Speaking to the media after the event, Sachith Maduranga paid a glowing tribute to the president of the AA of Sri Lanka Major General Palitha Fernando, his coaches and parents for all the support and encouragement given to him.

He said the training he received in Finland through the intervention of Major General Palitha Fernando helped him in a big way to win the Silver medal in the Javelin throw at this championships .

He said that some time ago he was dropped from the national athletic pool but with sheer determination, he fought back and won this medal for his country. 23 year old Sachith Maduranga, an old Anandian is a native of Embilipitiya.

Meanwhile, in the steeple chase 3000m event Eranga Dulakshi finished fifth in a time of 10:18.39 with the gold medal being won by Ruth Jebjebbit of Bahrain in a time iof 9:40.84 seconds while the Silver medal was bagged by India’s Sudha Singh in a time of 9:56.27 seconds.