Lankans looking to mark their presence today
The third and the final leg of the Asian Grand Prix is scheduled to be worked off today at the Sugathadasa Stadium and the Sri Lankan athletes who succeeded in the first two legs at Bangkok and Chonburi in Thailand will be seeking to improve with a beter showing.
The first leg at Bangkok saw Sri Lanka winning one gold medal, one silver medal and two bronze medals while in the second leg in Chonburi Sri Lanka ended with two gold medals, one silver medal and one bronze medal.
Sri Lanka’s most successful athlete javelin thrower Nadeeka Lakmali who bagged two gold medals will be looking forward to make it three in a row. Lakmali who won the first leg with a throw of 56.83m was unable to reach that in the second leg as she was able to clear only 55.99m due to the heavy wind.
Sri Lankan javelin thrower Nadeeka Lakmali, who won two gold medals in Thailand, will eye her third in Colombo today.
However she was way behind her own best of 58.43m which she achieved five years ago and hopefully she would be seeking to do much better in her home soil with a better throw.
Meanwhile Sri Lanka’s other hope will be W.K.L.A. Nimali who bagged a gold medal in the second leg at Chonburi the 800m with a timing of 2.07.08 secs. In fact Nimali came back after being able to secure only the sixth slot in the first leg at Bangkok.
Chandrika Subashini Rasnayake who won a silver medal in the 400m in Bangkok, which in fact was the first medal that the Lankans won, was unfortunate as she was unable to run in the second leg in Chonburi due to illness. But she will be looking forward to grab the gold medal in this event today.
Kalhara Seneviratne will be another hope for Sri Lanka. He improved in his first outing at Bangkok by winning a bronze medal in the 400m, but fared better at Chonburi where he went one step further to take the silver medal.
In fact it was the female athletes that shone in both the meets as the men’s relay quartet which the officials had high hopes failed to impress. They were able to secure only the fourth spot at Bangkok and then complete the race at Chonburi.
However they are expected to put up a better show today likewise two athletes D.L. Samarajeewa and Shanika Samanmali, who both won bronze medals are also expected to be in the fray again.
In the sprint events Mohamed Safran and Jani Chathurangani, who are Sri Lanka’s initial hopes in the men’s and women’s categories, have a daunting task ahead as they were no where near the best in the first two legs in Thailand. It’s left to be seen what they will be able to achieve with the high and top performers in action from other top Asian countries.
Meanwhile the cynosure of all eyes will be Sally Pearson, the Australian golden girl who won a gold medal in London 2012 Olympics. Pearson will be in action as a member of the Australian 100m relay team. She won the 100m hurdles gold medal in London and in 2011 she won the world championship in the same event.
Pearson is expected to run in the 4x100m women’s relay event which Australia failed to reached their target of 44 secs to qualify for the World Athletics Championship to be held in Moscow later this year.
Pearson is probably the only Olympic gold medalist to run on Sri Lanka soil in the recent past. The Aussie foursome, Pearson along with Monica Brennan, Melissa Breen and Ashley Whittaker who missed out the qualifying time by 0.06secs at Chonburi, will leave no stone unturned to have another shot in the final leg today at the Sugathadasa Stadium.
The third leg of the Asian Grand Prix will see 248 athletes in action competing in 20 events scheduled to be worked off during the day.
The scheduled events:
All Finals: 2.00pm: Discuss Throw (Women) and High Jump (Men). 2.15 pm: Long Jump (Women). 400m (Men). 2.30pm: 400m (Women). 2.45pm: 100m (Women ‘B’) Shot Putt (Men). 3.00pm: 100m (Women ‘A’). 3.15pm: 100m (Men ‘B’). Javelin Throw (Men). 3.30pm: 100m (Men ‘A’). 3.45pm: Triple Jump (Men). High Jump (Women). 110m Hurdle (Men). 4.00pm: 100m Hurdle (Women). 4.15pm: 800m (Women). Javelin Throw (Women). 4.30pm: 5000m (Men). 5.00pm: 4x100m (Men). 5.15pm: 4x100m (Women).
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