ELEVEN ATHLETES IN ACTION TODAY IN CHINA

Eleven Sri Lankan track and field athletes (six males and five females) will be in action this evening at the first leg of the Asian Grand Prix Series in Jianhua, China.

The team which left the island on Saturday, however misses the services of veteran high jumper Manjula Kumara Wijesekera who was ruled out after contracting dengue fever, a few days prior to the team’s departure.

The team includes some of the brightest prospects in Himasha Eshan, the 100m runner who clocked a seasonal best of 10.29 secs during a meet in Jamaica, the South Asian Games gold medalist in the women’s 100m dash Rumeshika Ratnayake, the 800m duo of Nimali Liyanarachchi and Gayanthika Abeyratne and the men’s Javelin duo of Sumedha Ranasinghe and Waruna Lakshan.

While Eshan is brimming with confidence following a two-month training in Jamaica— home of some of the world’s top sprinters, all eyes will be on Nimali and Gayanthika – two of the most improved middle distance runners as they look to challenge the Asian Championship gold medalist Tintu Luka of India. Gayanthika beat Nimali at the last National Trials with a new Sri Lanka record of 02:02.55 seconds while Nimali too clocked a personal best of 02:02.58 seconds.

Both Sumedha and Waruna have shown great signs of improvement in recent months where both surpassed the 80 metre mark and will look to give a stiff challenge in the Javelin event. Ajith Kumara will feature in the men’s 400 meters while Sanjaya Jayasinghe will compete in men’s triple jump. Sanjaya has a personal best effort of 16.30 metres.

Tharanga Vinodani with a personal best of 1.80 meters will compete in the women’s high jump event while Tharika Fernando who has a personal best effort of 15.25 metres will battle it out in the women’s shot put.

Men: Himasha Eshan (100 M), Ajith Premakumara (400 M), Indunil Herath (800 M), Sanjaya Jayasinghe (Triple Jump), Sumedha Ranasinghe (Javelin), Waruna Lakshan Dayaratne (Javelin)

Women: Rumeshika Rathnayaka (100 M), Nimali Liyanarachchi (400M & 800 M), Gayanthika Abeyratne (800 M), Tharanga Vinodani, (High Jump), Tharika Fernando (Shot Put)

Officials: Badra Gunawardana (Manager), Pradeep Nishantha (Coach).