Young Sri Lankan athletes created history when they claimed eight medals at the 6th Asian Youth Athletic Championships concluded in Amman, Saudi Arabia on Friday. This was the highest ever Sri Lanka medals tally at Asian Youth Championship series and this time Sri Lanka placed 9th in gold medals tally while according to total medals Sri Lanka placed 4th with 8 medals at this event and it was a big success and Sri Lankan youngsters proved their ability in great style.
The final day highlight was Sri Lanka’s Tharushi Abhisheka fondly known as ‘Podi Tharushi’ who clinched the solitary Sri Lanka gold from 800m took 2.14.86 minutes to clinch the gold in great fashion. The promising athete from Wickramabahu Central Gampola, Tharushi Abhisheka the captain of the Sri Lanka’s women’s team claimed her second International gold. She won her first international gold last year at Asian under 20 championship in this same event. Yamani Dulanjani was the first and only Sri Lankan gold medalist at Asian Youth Championship who won the 400m hurdles in 2015. After ten years Tharushi Abhisheka won the second gold in this series to bring honour to country.
Sri Lanka’s girls’ medley relay team which won the silver medal with a Sri Lanka Youth National Record. From left: Dilki Nehara, Tharushi Abhisheka, Sansala Himashani and Dhananjana Fernando.Sri Lanka’s girls’ medley relay team which won the silver medal with a Sri Lanka Youth National Record. From left: Dilki Nehara, Tharushi Abhisheka, Sansala Himashani and Dhananjana Fernando.
Meanwhile Sri Lankan Girls’ Medley Relay Team, comprising Dilki Nehara, Dhananjana Fernando, Sansala Himashani and Tharushi Abhisheka came with an outstanding performance (2.14.25 min) to win the silver medal in this event. They also set a new Sri Lankan Youth National Record. Dilki Nehara once again came to the fore claiming her second medal of the tournament, a bronze in the Girls’ Triple Jump.
In the boys’ category Nethya Sampath cleared a height of 2.03 meters to earn the High Jump bronze medal, while Dinuka Deshan achieved a commendable fifth place finish in this event.
In addition Shavindu Avishka powered through the Boys’ 800m final, clocking 1:53.41 to claim the bronze.
Despite some near misses, several athletes still showed great promise. Chathushka Imesh Silva placed seventh in the Boys’ 200m final and Dhananjana Fernando secured the sixth place in the Girls’ 200m final. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Boys’ Medley Relay Team concluded their campaign in a tight finish winning the fifth place and got good exposure.
After the four-day event Sri Lankans were able to claim a total of eight medals 1 gold medal, 3 silver medals and 4 bronze medals.This time 19 young Sri Lanka athetes took part at this meet while two 1500 girl athletes Niduki Prarthana and Ayesha Sewwandi have been disqualified from their sprint event due to not arriving on time for the event.
However strong performances by our local athletes showcased not only the rising standard of youth athletics in Sri Lanka, but also a promising future of the country on the Asian athletics stage.
Sri Lankan medal winners at 6th Asian Youth Athletic Championships: Tharushi Abisheka – 800m-gold. Janith Lakshan – Triple Jump silver. Dhananjana Fernando-100m silver. Dilki Nehara, Dhananjana Fernando, Sansala Himashani and Tharushi Abhisheka – Girls medley relay silver. Lahiru Achintha – 1500m bronze. Nethya Sampath- high jump bronze. Savindu Avishka – 800m bronze. Dilki Nehara – triple Jump bronze.
Country rank according to total medals: 1. China (36), 2. Usbekistan (11), 3. India (11), 4. Sri Lanka (08), 5. Japan (07), 6. Saudi Arabia (06), 7. Qatar (06), 8. Singapore (05), 9. Kazahstan (05), 10. South Korea (04), 11. Hong Kong (03), 12. Kuwait (03), 13. Iran (03), 14. UAE (02), 15. Lebanon (02), 16. C. Taipei (02), 17. Vietnam (01), 18. Philippines (01), 19. Thailand (01).
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