Sri Lankan sprinters fail to impress
Sri Lanka’s Kalinga Kumarage (left) finished seventh in the Men’s 400m final, behind compatriot Aruna Darshana, who finished sixth (right)
Sri Lanka’s hopes of winning possible medals at the ongoing 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China were shattered after all three 400m sprinters – Kalinga Kumarage, Aruna Darshana and Nadeesha Ramanayake – failed to live up to their expectations in the finals yesterday.
Ramanayake, who became the fastest woman in Sri Lankan history in the 400m at the recent Asian Athletic Championship, clocking 52.61secs to claim the gold medal, finished fifth with a timing of 53.72secs in the Women’s 400m final in Hangzhou yesterday. This was a slower timing than her run on Friday’s heats, where clocked 52.67secs to finish second behind the eventual gold medalist Mujidat Adekoya of Bahrain, who bettered her run in the final.
Adekoya, who finished the heat ahead of Ramanayake on Friday with a timing of 50.53secs, pocketed the gold medal after clocking 50.66secs in the final, ahead of compatriot Salwa Naser, the current record holder of the Asian and Asian Games record. Naser won the silver medal with a timing of 50.92secs, as Shereen Samson of Malaysia clocked 52.58secs to win the bronze medal.
India’s Aishwarya Mishra clocked 53,50secs to finish at fourth, ahead of Ramanayake, as Thi Minh Hoang of Vietnam (53.91), Laylo Allaberganova of Uzbekistan (55.18) and Thi Anh Hoang of Vietnam (55.61) fell behind in order.
In the Men’s 400m final, Asian and Asian Games record holder, Yousef Masrahi of Saudi Arabia clocked 45.55secs, to edge out his Japanese rival Kentaro Sato by 0.02 seconds to claim the gold medal. Sato posed a threat to the rest of the runners in the final, as he was edged out by Masrahi in the final straight, pushing him down to second place, while Abbas Yusuf Ali of Bahrain clocked 45.65secs to claim the bronze.
Japan’s Fuga Sato (45.70) and Indian Muhammed Ajmal (45.97) completed the race at fourth and fifth respectively, pushing the two Sri Lankans – Aruna Darshana and medal hope Kalinga Kumarage to sixth and seventh positions, followed by Qatari Ismail Abakar (46.48) at eighth.
Much was expected from Kumarage, after he clocked 45.57secs on Friday, to finish first in the Heat 1. Earlier in July, Kumarage became the fourth fastest Sri Lankan 400m runner after clocking 45.07secs at the 101st National Championship, which was followed by a few impressive, medal-winning outings at regional level.
However, he was even surpassed by compatriot Aruna Darshana in the final by a margin of 0.13secs, as his Friday’s timing would have earned him a potential silver medal, which was claimed by the similar timing by Japanese sprinter Kentaro Sato yesterday.
Darshana clocked 46.07secs on Friday in the Heat 3, in the qualifier which had him placed third ahead of Fuga Sato and gold medallist Masrahi.
The Sri Lanka 4x400m Men’s Relay team will compete in the final, scheduled to take place today evening, alongside other Asian heavyweights. Sri Lanka won the silver medal at the recent Asian Athletic Championship.