Ace swimmer Matthew Abeysinghe established a new Sri Lanka record in Men’s 100m Freestyle swimming to reach the semi-final in his favourite event, but could not find a place in the final at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast yesterday.
Abeysinghe and fellow swimmer Akalanka Peiris impressed during the morning session in their respective heat events at the Optus Aquatic Centre, to reach the semi-final stage. But both were ranked overall 10th and were put on the reserve lists in the final events.
Sri Lanka’s most successful swimmer in the recent years, Matthew, clocked 49.11seconds in the Men’s 100m Freestyle event, to claim the national record, in the Heat 7, which earned him a favourite tag in the semi-final 1. He was placed second next to Canadian Yuri Kisil, who clocked 49.06seconds.
But in the crucial event, Matthew clocked 49.43seconds and finished at 10th overall among 16 swimmers who contested in both semi-finals. His closest opponent in the heats, Kisil, clocked 48.79seconds in the semi-final to secure a slot in the final. A repeat or a better timing by Matthew could have earned him a place in the final as Kiwi Daniel Hunter clocked 49.11seconds in the semis to earn the eighth slot in the list.
Canadian Markus Thormeyer and Matthew are lined up as reserves for the final but are highly unlikely of contesting.
Akalanka Peiris finished sixth in the Semi-final 2 of the Men’s 50m Backstroke swimming event. Akalanka, competing in Lane 7, clocked 26.52seconds, 0.31seconds better than his timing in the heats. He clocked 26.83seconds in the Heats 2 to qualify for the semi-finals, and finished 10th overall among 16 contestants from both semi-finals. Akalanka is also one the two reserve players for the final.
In Squash Mihiliya Methsarani easily overcame Khaaliqa Nimji of Kenya by 3-0 to reach the Women’s Plate final at the Oxenford Studios. She claimed the three straight sets in the Semi-final 1 with scores of 11-6, 12-10 and 13-11. Mihiliya will meet Meagan Best of Barbados in the final scheduled to be played today at 1.30pm Sri Lanka time.
Meanwhile Canada beat Sri Lanka in straight sets in a Beach Volleyball Pool ‘B’ match played at Coolangatta Beach. Canadians Samuel Pedlow and Sam Schachter comfortably overcame Lankan spikers Ananda Pradeep and Sachimal Yapa 21-11 and 21-5 in two sets that lasted just 32 minutes. Sri Lanka will meet Sierra Leone in a Pool ‘B’ match tomorrow.
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