Can the shuttlers create history — but it’s a tall order
Kalinga Kumarage clocked his personal best of 45.99secs in the 400m - Reuters
This will be mighty asking from the Sri Lankan pair who are looking to create history by qualifying for the semi-finals, a feat no other Sri Lankan shuttler have achieved in the history of the Asian Games before.
The Sri Lankans beat the Pakistani combo Azam Rizwan and Kashif Sulehir with ease, taking the first set 21/12, then went on a rampage winning the second set 21/13 to book their berth in the quarter-finals.
However, in the women’s singles Kavindi Sirimannage was soundly beaten by her Thai opponent Nitcjhaon Jindapol in straight sets. The first set, which lasted just nine minutes, saw the Sri Lankan losing the set 4/21, before conceding the second set with a slightly improved 14/21. In the men’s single round of 16 Dinuka Karunaratne suffered an embarrassing 2-0 (6/21, 14/21) defeat at the hands of Kalong Angus Ng of Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, 400m sprinter Kalinga Kumarage booked a place in the finals but Sri Lanka’s main hope in the event, Aruna Darshana, crashed out with a disappointing performance.
Kumarage, who clocked a personal best of 45.99secs to earn a semi-final spot, managed to a time of 46.21 and entered the finals as one of the two fastest qualifiers.
Teenager Darshana eased to victory in the first heat clocking a time of 46.97secs but made 46.53 secs in the semi-finals, ending his Asian Games campaign.
Kumarage, an experienced campaigner, clocked a personal best of 46.08 seconds in April and was very good shape yesterday finishing the heat in the third place with a new personal mark.
Darshana clocked an impressive 45.79 secs at the recent Asian Junior Championship to win the gold medal with a new Asian junior record and the teenage sprint sensation was expected to produce Sri Lanka’s first 400m since Sugath Thilakaratne’s gold medal at the 1998 Bangkok Games. However, Darshana has struggled to achieve a sub 46 performances.
In the men’s long jump qualification, Prasad Wimalasiri leaped a distance of 7.56m to earn a place in the final. Long distance runner Hiruni Wijeratne pulled out of the women’s 10,000m final halfway through the event to end her Asian Games campaign on a disappointing note.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka went down fighting against China 1-3 in the men’s volleyball group E match. After China eased to a 25-15 win in the first set, Sri Lanka fought back to clinch the second set 25-20, before losing the next three 14/25, 17/25 to hand China a comfortable win.
In men’s 49kg boxing Sandaruwan Ranasingha crashed out of round of 32 losing to home boxer Mario Blasius 0-5.
In the men’s light welter (64Kg) round of 32 Sri Lanka’s Dushan Saparamadu conceded defeat against Bakhodur Usmanov of Tajikistan after the referee decided to stop the fight. In the women’s Light (60Kg) Ayoma Dilanjali lost 0-5 to Shoira Zulkayanarova of Tajikistan in a round of 16 clash.