Week in Sports with Ishan Samaraweera
View(s):This segment gives our readers brief updates on all the sporting action that happened during the course of the week.Athletics
Asian Athletic Championship 2019
Vidusha Lakshani won the solitary medal for Sri Lanka
Triple jumper, Vidusha Lakshani, was able to make her country proud as she won the first medal for Sri Lanka in this year’s Asian Championship in Doha, Qatar. She won the Bronze medal in the Women’s Triple Jump with a best jump of 13.53m. It was her fourth attempt that earned her the medal.
She had missed the chance for a medal when she competed in India in 2017, by a mere two centimetres. This time it came as a moment of joy for Lakshani, as she was able to bring glory to her country.
New National records were created in Women’s4X400m
The team consisting of Nadeesha Ramanayake, Dilshi Kumarasinghe, Upamalika Ratnakumari and Nimali Liyanarachchi fell short of a medal, but they were able to break a national record that was created in 1999. The quartet recorded a time of 03:03.06 to claim the national record.
Cricket
ICC Cricket World cup 2019 Squad announcements
Gayle in Windies squad
West Indies announced their World Cup squad for the tournament with demolisher Chris Gayle named in it. Gayle will be playing his fifth World Cup, this Probably will be his last appearance at a World Cup for West Indies. Jason Holder will captain the Windies.
West Indies squad: Jason Holder (Captain), Fabian Allen, Darren Bravo, Carlos Brathwaite, Sheldon Cottrell, Shannon Gabriel, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope (wk), Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Nicholas Pooran, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Oshane Thomas
Morgan to lead England
The hosts England announced their squad for Cricket’s showpiece event. They are one of the favourites to win the World Cup this year where Eoin Morgan will be the captain.
England squad: Eoin Morgan (Captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Jos Buttler (wk), Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Giant killer Afghanistan names squad
Afghanistan announced their squad for the World Cup under the captaincy of Gulbadin Naib.
Afghanistan squad: Gulbadin Naib (Captain), Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Sri Lanka’s preparations for World Cup hampered
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) decided to call off World Cup preparation camps due to security reasons. SLC decided to cancel the training camp, that was supposed to be a three-day workout in Dambulla ahead of the World Cup in England. Those plans had to be abandoned after the country was rocked by a series of terrorist attacks on Easter Sunday. The Sri Lanka team will be leaving to the United Kingdom on May 7. Leading up to the World Cup Sri Lanka will play two ODIs against Scotland.