Hasini and Lakshani get World Ranking
Young athlete Hasini Probodha Balasuriya of Holy Family Convent Wennappuwa and senior athlete H. D. Vidusha Lakshani of Sri Lanka Army and an old girl of Newstead Balika, Negombo have emerged as Sri Lanka’s top ranking athletes according IAAF World Rankings 2017 released up to June. Both are women Triple Jumpers.
Hasini Probodha Balasuriya’s Best Performance in the under 20 Triple Jump is 13.20mtrs. According to New World Rankings she is placed 12th in the World.
Women’s Triple Jumper H. D. Vidusha Lakshani’s Best Performance is 13.64mtrs. She is among the World’s Best 42. The performances of these two athletes is the best in the history of Women’s Triple Jumping in Sri Lanka and is the first time they have emerged to the fore in World Rankings.
These distances were achieved at the first selection trial for the Asian Athletics Championships to be held India from July 6 to 9. The coach of both athletes is Philip Ranjit Perera, who was a former national triple jumper in 1984 himself.
Chair man Selection Committee, Athletics Association of Sri Lanka, Saman Kumara Gunewardena told the Sunday Times that Sri Lankan athletes have been showing good form this year.
“The Athletics Association of Sri Lanka had set up qualifying standards from 2007 taking into consideration Asian Athletics Championships results up to five Championships and targeted the sixth place to set up the qualifying standards.
“At the final selection trial for the Asian Championships in 2017, 19 athletes had bettered the qualifying standards. This is a big triumph for Sri Lankan athletes,” said Gunewardena.
To date three athletic training pools have been established. The first is the Super Pool and marathon runner Anuruddha Indrajith Cooray is the only one in it. He has already qualified for the London World Athletic Championships 2017.
The next pool is the Elite Pool ( Asian and Commonwealth Games). There are 27 athletes in it. Then there is the National Pool. There were 120 athletes in it earlier and now it has been reduced to 65.
Prior to the Asian Championships, there are three international competitions this month. They are the Thai Open, Turkestan Open and the Korean Open.
The Athletics Association of Sri Lanka has decided that after the Asian Championships Sri Lanka will participate in two international competitions. They are the Malaysian and Vietnam Open meets.
The Athletics Association has so far sent or will be sending athletes for 15 international competitions this year. Included in these events are marathons, race-walking and athletics events.
The reason for sending young athletes for meets of this nature is to give them international experience. According to the performances by Sri Lankan athletes, at least five medals are expected at the Asian Championships.
The medals expected are: 800mtrs (men and women), High Jump ( men), 100mtrs (men and women), 4X100 (men) and 4X400 (men).