Athletics: Sampath and Nimali are the best at National Youth Sports Festival

Sampath Ranasinghe of Galle and Nimali Liyanarachchi of Hambanthota won the Men’s and Women’s Over over-20 Best Athlete Awards respectively at the 28th National Youth Sports Festival (NYSF) which concluded at the Vincent Dias Stadium in Badulla. 

Ranasinghe was Best Athlete for winning the Men’s Javelin with a throw of 72.55m, while Liyanarachchi was Best Athlete for winning the Women’s 400m in 54.8sec. 

Thivanka Perera of Gampaha won Best Athlete in the Boys Under-20 Championship, for his effort of 2.06m in the High Jump. 

Hasini Praboda of Puttalam won Best Athlete in the U-20 Girls Championship, for her Triple Jump of 12.57m. 

Gampaha Division were overall Champions for the 3rd successive year with 130 points, while Colombo Division emerged Runners-up with 102 points. 

The 4 'Best Athletes' of the Festival were presented with new motorbikes. A total of 6 new Meet records were established at the NYSF. 

They were set by S.L. Widanaguruge of Badulla (O-20 Women 100m), L.C. Gunarathna of Kandy (U-20 Boys 1500m) D.M.Y. Dulanjalee of Nuwara Eliya (U-20 Girls 400m) W.M.A.M. Madusanka of Puttalam (U-20 Boys Shot Putt), Kandy-Matara District (U-20 Boys 4×100m) and Kandy District (U-20 Boys 4×400m) Relay Teams. 

Best Performance 

1. U-20 Best Athlete Boys- H.T.U. Thivanka Perera (Gampaha) High Jump- 2.06m 
2. U-20 Best Athlete Girls- Hashini Prabodha (Puttalam) Triple Jump- 12.57m 
3. O-20 Best Athlete Men- Sampath Ranasinha (Galle) Javelin- 72.55m 
4. O-20 Best Athlete Women- Nimali Liyanarachchi of Hambanthota (100 meters) Performance 54.8 sec 

Champions 

5. Overall- Gampaha District (130) 
6. Runners-up- Colombo District (102) 
7. Carrom Doubles (Women) Champion-Kegalle. Runners-up-Colombo 
8. Carrom Doubles (Men) Champion-Urban Youth District. Runners-up-Colombo 
9. Carrom Singles (Women) Champion- Colombo. Runners-up-Urban Youth District 
10. Carrom Singles (Men) Urban Youth Runner-up- Colombo. 
11. Cricket (Women) Champs- Galle. Runners-up Kurunegala. Best Player: Sathya Sandeepani (Galle) 
12. Cricket (Men) Champs- Puttalam. Runners-up- Mannar. Best Player: P.S.A.C. Fonseka 
13. Tug of War (Men) Champs- Colombo. Runners-up- Kurunegala 
14.Tug of War (Women) Champs- Kurunegala. Runners-up- Jaffna 
15. Kabaddi (Men) Champs- Kegalle. Runners-up- Anuradhapura. Best Player: K.A.L.K.B. Kuruppu (Kegalle) 
16. Kabaddi (Women) Champs- Anuradhapura. Runners-up- Kandy. Best Player: P. Sugandi (Anuradhapura) 
17. Beach Volleyball (Men) Champs- Puttalam (W.B.R. Franando & A.K.M.C.N. Perera). Runners-up- Kurunegala (K.A.S. Sachinthana & A.R. Nandana Thilaka) 
18. Beach Volleyball (Women) Champs- Kurunegala (R.A.C.S. Jayarathna & H.M.K.K. Herath) Runners-up- Trincomalee (A.K.T. Lakshani & M.G.D. Bandara)    
19. Volleyball (Men) Champs- Kegalle. Runners-up- Gampaha. 
20. Volleyball (Women) Champs- Kegalle. Runners-up- Matara 
21. Elle (Women) Champs- Moneragala. Runners-up- Gampaha. Best Player: R.D.S. Kaushalya (Moneragala) 
22. Elle (Men) Champs- Gampaha. Runners-up- Colombo. Best Player: Ayesh Dulanka (Gampaha) 
23. Football Champs- Kandy. Runners-up- Badulla. Best Player: R.M.K. Rajapaksa (?) 
24. Basketball (Women) Champs- Jaffna. Runners-up- Batticaloa. Best Player: Subeesan Jeyarajah (Jaffna) 
25. Basketball (Men) Champs- Puttalam. Runners-up- Jaffna.