“It is a learning experience. The competition is so great that we couldn’t even imagine the magnitude of it. Nevertheless the atmosphere is friendly and we are better participants than when we entered into it first”. – These were the sentiments expressed by swimmer Heshan Unamboowe, Sri Lanka’s skipper at the first ever Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Singapore.
Heshan Unamboowe |
Not to be outdone by his disappointment in the 100 Meters Backstroke, Heshan took the plunge in the 50 Meters Backstroke the next day and finished eleventh overall in the straight semi-finals.
He was placed eighth in his heat and in the process broke his own National Record in the event which stood at 27.81.Every Sri Lankan in Singapore wanted to know how 1000 Meters runner would perform and watched his performance on the special YOG Sports Channel.
Indunil running in humid conditions and egged on by his team-mates and the few Sri Lankan supporters at the Bishan Stadium, took seventh place in his heat and returned a personal best time of 2.38. Indunil, a lad from Menikhinna, is a trained 800 Meters runner.
He was running in the 1000 Meters as a wildcard entrant and had practiced for the event for nearly two and a half months.
Adjusting for the longer event was a trial for him. Nevertheless to say that this was his best performance in the event speaks volumes of his determination.
Indunil’s race was ultimately won by Charlie Grice of Great Britain with a time of 2:24.74.Madhawee Weerathunga of Mahamaya Kandy bowed out of the competition when she was placed sixth out of seven participants in the Youth Women’s 100 Meters Freestyle Heats.
The race was won by Zeinab Khalfallah of Tunisia. The overall event however was won by Yi Tang of China, who are currently heading the Gold Medals table followed by Russia.
Dilshan Kariyawasam of Ananda very nearly entered the second round of the ongoing Men’s Badminton Competition.
He gained this plus point when he beat M.A. Boris of Australia 21-14, 21-5 in a preliminary game and if he wanted to be in the next round he had to beat Leikonein Kasper of Finland which he failed to do. After 30 minutes of high tension shuttling Dilshan was beaten 21-8, 21-18 to the big disappointment of the Sri Lanka team and the large number of Sri Lankan fans following Dilshan’s progress at the YOG.
To date Kariyawasam is the only player to have recorded a victory in an individual event at the ongoing contest. Dilshan Kariyawasam lost to the hard hitting Hseieh Feng-Tse of Chinese Taipei 0-2 in the Men’s Singles preliminaries. Dilshan lost the first set at 12-21 and the next at 14-21.
After a short break Shehani Lekha of Our Lady of Victories Convent, Moratuwa got her chance to show off her prowess in the Girls Singles Pool E Two Badminton preliminaries. She had to face the fast and fit looking Chiang Mei Hui, also of Chinese Taipei.
Shehani lost the first set at 9-21 and just when she was warming up, she lost the second set at 19-21 and the contest 2-0.The opening ceremony was a gala spectacle where International Olympic Committee (IOC) Chairman Jacques Roguesz said that he was so happy to see his brainchild, the Youth Olympic Games taking place in Singapore after so many years of planning. |
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