Nilani clinches first athletic gold medal

April 20, 2024

Sports - Cultural - Travel

Nilani clinches first athletic gold medal

December 04, 2019

Nilani Rathnayake clinched the first athletic gold medal in women’s 1500m race and Sri Lanka won five gold medals at the end of the third day of 13th South Asian Games in Kathmandu.Ratnayake was scheduled only to run the 5000m at the games, but at the last moment she was slotted into the 1500m line-up as replacement for Nimali Liyanarachchi who was injured a day before Sri Lanka’s departure to Nepal.She won the Gold in the 1500m with a timing of 4:34.34 and Gayanthika Abeyratne was placed fourth with a timing of 4:36.34 sec. Chanda (India) 4:34.51 sec and PU Chithra (India) 4:35.46 sec secured the second and third places respectively.

In the Decathlon event Sri Lanka’s Dulashi Weerasinghe won the gold medal while Iresha Thamali secured the bronze medal. Meanwhile defending SAG champion Himasha Eshan missed out on the Gold medal and ended up with the Silver in the Men’s 100m Final, with a timing of 10.50sec.Amasha De Silva and Lakshika Sugandi were able to secure Silver and Bronze in the women’s 100m final. Amasha clocked 11.82 seconds while Sugandi managed a personal best of 11.84s. The Gold medal went to Archana Suseenth of India (11.80s).

In the 15000m Nilani Lanka Ariyadasa clocked 35:59:02mins & won the bronze. In women’s 10000m; Hiruni Wijayarathne finished 4th. In the Womens High Jump event Dulanjalee Ranasinghe won the Silver Medal with a jump of 1.69m.In the Karate event Sri Lanka, won six bronze medals in several weight categories in the Kumithe event. Prasanga Satharuwan(60kg) and Kkasun Danushka(75kg ) were the winners of the men’s while Kanchana Lakshan(67kg), Tharaka Samanmali (55kg), Pooja Piyumanthi(68kg) and Buddika Erandi(61kg) won the bronze in the women’s category.Anura Bandara won the silver medal in the 54 kg while Lakmal Thilakaratne and Ishara Piyumali(46kg women) baggedbronze medals in the Taekwondo event.

Cricket

Sri Lanka men’s U-23s secured a close win over host Nepal by six wickets (with 5 balls remaining) in the group matches played in Kathmandu.

Nepal batted first and scored 172 runs for five wickets in 20 overs. DS Airee scored 72 runs. Kamindu Mendis picked two wickets for 34 runs. In reply Sri Lanka scored 175/4 (19.1 Overs) and Shammu Ashan played a major role and scored 72 runs in just 44 deliveries

Meanwhile Women’s Cricket team defeated Bangaladesh at Pohara Stadium. Sri Lanka women scored 122 runs and U.Thimasini contributed 56 runs. Nahida Akter took four wickets. Bangaladehs reached the target losing just three wickets.

Tennis

The Sri Lanka Women’s Tennis team created a major upset when they defeated bottom seeds Pakistan 2/0 in Kathmandu, Nepal. With this win they have entered the finals and will play India for the Gold Medal today.

Anika Seneviratne gave Sri Lanka the perfect start with a solid performance beating Mahin Qureshi 6/4 6/4. Anika raced to 4/2 and then couldn’t convert six break points which would have given her a 5/2 lead. Qureshi fought back but Anika closed the set 6/4. In the 2nd set Anika raced to a 5/ 1 lead before Qureshi closed the gap but lost 6/4.

Anjalika Kurera then closed the tie in a thrilling 3 set win over veteran Suhail Ushana 6/4 2/6 6/3 Anjalika played a well thought out match and defended bravely against big hitting Ushana. She took the first set 6/4 with some well executed winners but dropped the second 2/6 as her opponent found her rhythm.

The third set was evenly contested until Anjalika dug deep to close the set, match and tie with some excellent ground strokes which left her opponent stunned. Sri Lanka will meet India in the finals for the Gold medal today.

Football

Host Nepal has kick-started its journey with a victory against Sri Lanka in the women’s football and they beat Sri Lanka 1-0 in the first game of the event held at Pokhara Stadium.