Army’s Puvitharan sets up new pole vault record
A.Puvitharan of Sri Lanka Army smashed the Sri Lankan record with a jump of 5.15m in the men’s pole vault event of the National Selection trials for the Asian Athletic championship and e Asian Games at the Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium Diyagama over the week end
The two day trials conducted by the Sri Lanka Athletics( SLA ) was a good opportunity for the local athletes to regain their form .The National Athletic coach Y.K Kularatne said the trials focused on next Asian Championship and Asian Games next year but all athletes are getting ready for their training. Sri Lanka Army athletes excelled at this two day trial while all other leading athletes finished their respective events successfully .
In the 100m event, Y.C.M Yodasinghe clinched first place with a time of 10.53 seconds. M.V.S Silva and D.S Ratnasiri were placed 2nd & 3rd respectively making it an all-Army top three.
The experienced Kalinga Kumarage of Army registered first place in the 400m event while R.M.R.N Rajakaruna and K.K Pabasara were placed second and third in this same event . Medhani Jayamanne of Sri Lanka Army clocked 11.93 seconds in the 100m event to win first place. While Shelinda Jansen ended up taking the second place while Rumeshika Ratnayake won third place.In fact Rumeshika who domineted this event couldn’t finsh this event as expected while young Medhani Jayamanne was outstanding with a good run from the start . Meanwhile in the 400m event, R.Nadeesha of Sri Lanka Army won 1st place with N.H Fernando and S.H Fernando securing the 2nd & 3rd spots.
Sri Lanka Air Force registered the top two places in the 800m event with L.A Nimali winning the event and M.A Kumari ending in 2nd spot. Isanka Gayani Ranasinghe of Sri Lanka Army won 3rd place in the event.
Meanwhile Sarangi Silva the champion long jumper won her per event but not as much expected due to her recent illness .
The National Athletic coach Y.K Kularatne said Sri Lanka Athletics is expected to form National pool once again to focus on next Asian Championship and Asian Games . Actually SLA this time made high standard for the events as they are focused on winning bronze medals at the Asian Games as .This was the main reason our athletes couldn’t set up more records but Puvitharan set up men’s Pole Vault record while we are expecting more records in the next trial .The second trial also will be held shortly while the Athletic Nationals is also considered for the selection trial.In addition Asian Championship also considered for the final trial for the Asian Games which was postponed from this year to next year in China. In addition Sri Lanka Athletics is expected to form junior National pool to focus on junior and youth International events .Sri Lanka Athletics is expecting more medals at the Asian Games. Already Gayanthika Abeyratne,Sarangi Silva ,Nimali Liyanarachchi, Nilani Ratnayake, Kalinga Kumarage are in line for the medals while few other junior athletes are in good form to focus on Asian Games.The President of the SLA Major General Palitha Fernando and his team has a preparation programme to get success at the next Asian Games added National coach Y.K Kularatne.
Meanwhile Kalinga Kumarage clinched the Men’s 200m title after clocking 21.11s while Mohommad Safan and D. Gayashan won second and third place. In the Men’s 1500m race, H. Kumara won with a time of 3:46.12, while Roshan Dhammika won the 110m hurdles event.
Medhani Jayamanne came up with Women’s 200m final when she managed to obtain first place with a time of 24.32secinds. Nadeesha Ramanayake and M.Fernando won 2nd and 3rd place respectively.
The experienced Gayanthika Abeyratne continued her domination in the 1500m event as she won 1st place comfortably registering a time of 4:13.20. while Lakshika Sugandi who won the 100m hurdles event clocking 13.84s.