Some of
the biggest sporting stars in the schools arena will be vying for top honours
at the Sri Lanka Schools Sports Council organised Milo Colours Awards ceremony
which will be held on September 27 (Friday) at the BMICH in Colombo commencing 2.00 p. m.
Sri Lanka’s new find Tharindu Kaushal
(cricket) together with Mathew Abeysinghe (swimming) and Milan Dissanayake
(athletics) are the top contenders to win the coveted Most Outstanding
Sportsman of the year award for 2012.
Meanwhile
Thilini Pramodhika Hendahewa (badminton), Shivanthi Kumari Ratnayake
(athletics) and Machiko Raheem (swimming) are the three top contenders to lift
the Most Outstanding Sportswoman of the year award for 2012.
Apart
from these two main awards, colours will be presented to 33 different school’s
sports based on the performances of the athletes and for their exceptional achievements
both at national and international level events.
Minister
of Education Bandula Gunawardena will grace the occasion as the chief guest
while the Managing Director of Nestle Lanka PLC Ganesan Ampalavanar will
preside as guest of honour.
De La Salle meets St. Peter’s
Negombo in explosive final
Chris Dhambarage
Two
equally good teams De La Salle College Mutwall and St. Peter’s College Negombo
will be hoping to create history when they clash in the Sri Lanka Schools
Cricket Association Under-17 Division Two Tournament final on Tuesday at the ThurstanCollege ground.
Both
schools are looking to clinch the division two championships for the first time
after having made it to the final following some outstanding performances
during the preliminary round of the tournament.
In fact
De La Salle College had the credit of creating one of the biggest upsets in the
tournament when they knocked out the more fancied St. Peter’s College
Bambalapitiya by 95 runs in a quarterfinal fixture played at De Soysa Stadium
in Moratuwa.
De La
Salle College then powered their way into the final while recording a
convincing six-wicket victory over Karandeniya Central in the semifinal
encounter at the same venue.
Earlier
in the first round De La Salle College had the satisfaction of overcoming Thurstan
‘B’, St. Anthony’s Panadura, Prince of Wales ‘B’ and Ananda MV Kottawa to
emerge as the group champions.
They
never looked back from there onwards and went on to create more upsets while
defeating Ananda College ‘B’, Sri Sumangala Wariyapola and Theraputta
Amabalantota MV in the second round.
Meanwhile
St. Peter’s College Negombo also had a highly successful tournament as they
launched their campaign with convincing victories over Harischandra MV Negombo,
Basilica College Ragama and HenegamaCentralCollege
in the first round.
Their
only setback in the beginning was the first round defeat which they suffered at
the hands of St. Sebastian’s College Katuneriya and they had to be satisfied
with the runner-up position in their group.
However later
they made amends and went on to avenge that defeat by overcoming the same
opponents in the semifinals after having earlier beaten Sri Sumangala MMV
Wariyapola in the quarterfinals.
De La Salle College (from): Kavin Fernando (Captain),
Madhawa Fernando (Vice-captain), Sangeeth Fernando, Ashen De Silva, Eranda
Kushlan, Gihan Perera, Mohommed Razeem, Chathura Devendra, Kanishka Madhusanka,
Nimesh Silva, Suminda Fernando, Nalin Vaas, Arjuna Fernando, Felix Dias (Coach),
M.C. Werapitiya (Master-in-Charge)
Gampaha
Rugby Football Club in its brief history has made steady progress in the last
couple of years and is looking forward towards producing an improved
performance during the upcoming inter-club season.
Gampaha
RFC was inaugurated in 2007 by two keen rugby enthusiasts Gayan Diddeniya and
Kanishka Dias and since then they have participated in the Sri Lanka Rugby
Football Union (SLRFU) ‘C’ Division League Tournament, The Inter Club Sevens
and Western Province Sevens Tournaments annually.
However
in 2009 they suffered a major setback when one of their founder members
Kanishka Dias a former RoyalCollege player died under
tragic circumstances.
And since
then Gayan Diddeniya another former RoyalCollege player has continued
to play a major role in keeping Gampaha RFC in the limelight while functioning
as the captain of the team as well as the head coach.
Their
best achievement on the field came last season when they emerged Bowl runners
up in the SLRFU Inter Club Seven-a-side Tournament having earlier won the
Shield title at the St. Sebastian’s College Ten-a-side Tournament played at
Kandana in 2009.
The
present Gampaha RFC team is made of some promising former schoolboys of RoyalCollege,
CareyCollege,
WesleyCollege, Lumbini MV, S. Thomas’ College,
Science College Mount Lavinia, Galahitiyawa Central and Sangabodhi MMV.
Gampaha
RFC are currently without a playground of their own and from last week they had
to move to a new venue at Ganemulla Public ground as the Sangabodhi Public
ground in Gampaha is currently under renovation.
The Gampaha Rugby Football Club
15-a-side and Seven-a-side squads:
Prop
forwards: Chathura Navaratne, Arunoda Dilhara, and Gayan Mayadunne
Sri Lanka turned a new leaf in women’s
rugby when they annexed the Plate Championship at the HSBC Asian Rugby Sevens
Series first leg worked off in Bangsean,
Thailand
yesterday.
This was
easily Sri Lanka’s best ever
performance at a major international sevens tournament having previously won
the Bowl Championship and having emerged runners up in the same event last year
in India.
The Sri Lanka women’s rugby team after having experienced
mixed fortunes on the opening day of the tournament came back magnificently to beat
a strong Singapore
outfit by 17 points to 5 points in the Plate Championship final encounter.
Their
success was even more significant as they were able to secure the overall fifth
position in the tournament which will give them more confidence ahead of the
second leg which will be worked off in November in India.
Sri Lanka
got off to a good start in the important final and managed to build up a close
10 nil lead at half time following two superb unconverted tries from scrum half
Nadeeka Munasinghe and wing three quarter Ayesha Perera.
Skipper
Thanuja Weerakkody was off target with both conversions but later made amends
in the second half when she powered her way to touch down under the post
following a superb offload from winger Ayesha Perera.
Full back
Rukshani Ariyasena made no mistake with the conversion and Sri Lanka were well
on course towards recording a convincing victory after having increased their
lead to a commanding 17-nil mid way in the second half.
Sri Lanka of course went through some
anxious moments during the last few minutes of play as they were penalized and
were reduced to five players which resulted in Singapore scoring a consolation
try.
Earlier Sri Lanka booked their place in the final by
defeating the Philippines
17-5 in the semifinals collecting their points from one goal and two
unconverted tries.
This was
a tremendous improvement from the Sri Lankan women after having suffered two
successive defeats at the hands of Hong Kong (5-25) and Kazakhstan
(0-25) respectively.
Their
only success on the opening day of the tournament was against Thailand where
they triumphed by a close margin of 5-0 which pushed them into the Plate Championship.
Meanwhile
in the other matches of the tournament Thailand
beat Guam 17-0 to take the Bowl Championship, Philippines defeated Chinese Taipei
to take seventh place.
In
addition Hong Kong had the better of Kazakhstan
17-10 to secure the third place while Japan
will take on China
in the Cup Championship final today. (C.D.)
Sri Lanka took a step closer towards
winning the HSBC Asian Rugby Series second leg when they recorded two
impressive victories on the opening day of the tournament which commenced in Bangsaen, Thailand
yesterday.
The Sri
Lankans powered their way to register back to back victories against Kazakhstan
(26-5) and Chinese Taipei (15-12) while competing in group ‘B’ and went on to
book a place in the Cup Championship quarterfinals.
Sri Lanka looked a more determined team
after their excellent performances in the first leg of the series in Malaysia two
week’s ago and made their intentions quite clear from the kick-off.
They
first had the satisfaction of overcoming Kazakhstan by a comprehensive
margin mainly due to a splendid hat-trick of tries from Srinath Sooriyabandara.
The
speedy wing three quarter was in tremendous form as he planted two beautiful
tries in the first half and added another in the second half to complete a
memorable outing.
In fact Sri Lanka
sealed the match even before half time as they built up a commanding 21-nil
lead at the short whistle with centre three quarter Sandun Herath also making
his presence felt with a classy try.
The
Tuskers of course conceded a late try to their opponents but eventually they
ran out victorious by a resounding margin while collecting their points from three
goals and one unconverted try.
Sri Lanka however faced a stiff opposition
in their second group match as they had to fight hard to win by 15 points to 12
over Chinese Taipei after having snatched a close 10-5 lead at half time.
In fact
they were trailing 10-12 midway in the second half before a brilliant late try
from third row forward Sajith Saranga sealed the game for Sri Lanka after skipper Fazil
Marija had earlier put the side ahead with two splendid tries.
Sri Lanka will take on Thailand in one
of the quarterfinals of the Cup Championship today. The rest of the quarterfinal
line-up is Japan v Malaysia, Hong Kong v Kazakhstan
and South Korea v Philippines. (C.D)
2013 HSBC Asian Rugby Sevens
second leg in Thailand
Sajith, Roshan to join squad?
Chris Dhambarage
Sri Lanka is likely to make at least two
changes to their team that will compete in the 2013 HSBC Asian Rugby Sevens
second leg which will be worked off on September 21 and 22 in Bangkok, Thailand.
SLRFU
Selection Committee sources revealed that Navy Sports Club third row forward
Sajith Saranga and Kandy Sports Club dynamic scrum half Roshan Weeraratne are
the two players who will most probably come into the final 12 member squad.
Both
these players were in the replacement lineup for the HSBC Asian Rugby Sevens
first leg where Sri Lanka
performed extremely well to finish in fourth position of the tournament which
was hosted by Malaysia
two week’s ago.
However
the National Selectors are expected to announce the final 12 member squad next
week after having fully assessed the injuries and the performances of the players.
This time
Sri Lanka have been ranked number one in group ‘B’ and the rest of the teams in
this pool are Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan who will be making
their HSBC Rugby Sevens debut along with Cambodia.
The
Thailand Sevens mark the largest ever HSBC A7s event with a total of 28 teams
participating, that include 16 men’s teams and 12 women’s teams. The four men’s
teams playing alongside the 12 core teams in Thailand
are Cambodia, India, Laos
and Uzbekistan.
The HSBC Thailand Sevens
draw:
Pool ‘A’:
Japan, Philippines, Singapore
and India
Pool ‘B’:
Sri Lanka, Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan
and Uzbekistan
Pool ‘C’:
South Korea, Malaysia, United
Arab Emirates and Cambodia
2013 HSBC Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) Women’s
Sevens
Lanka team targets ending in top four
Chris Dhambarage
The Sri Lanka women’s rugby
team will be looking to produce an improved performance when they compete in
the 2013 HSBC Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) Sevens first leg which will be
worked off on September 21 and 22 in Bangkok, Thailand.
The national women’s rugby
team has made steady progress within a short period of time through some
outstanding performances having made their presence felt in Asian tournaments
held in Hong Kong, Singapore, Qatar and India.
In fact Sri Lanka’s best
achievement in sevens rugby came in 2005 where they clinched the Bowl
Championship and last year they had the satisfaction of emerging runners up in
the Bowl tournament in India.
However this time the Sri
Lanka women’s rugby team seems to be even more determined to make an impact
with a number of talented young players from the three forces joining the squad
to form a great combination.
“We have a completely new
look side with as many as eight newcomers but they are all highly talented
rugby players and most of them are very good runners who could penetrate any
kind of defence,” said a confident Sri Lankan captain Thanuja Weerakkody.
The dynamic fly half of Sri
Lanka Navy Sports Club believes that the team is well prepared to meet the
challenges and that they are really determined to produce an improved
performance in this year’s tournament.
“Last year of course we had
to be content with the Bowl runner-up position but this time I am confident
that this side is capable of putting up even a better performance and should be
a major threat to the rest of the teams.
“I think our biggest rivals
will be China, Japan and Hong Kong who have been dominating this tournament for
the past few years but this time we are going into this tournament well
prepared to meet any kind of challenge from the opposition.”
The Sri Lankan captain also
expressed her confidence that the side has the talent and the potential to
create a couple of upsets and that their main goal will be to finish among the
top four in the tournament.
“We are currently ranked
number eight in the region and our target will be to improve on that and to
finish among the top four in the tournament with a good all round performance.”
Thanuja Weerakkody also
stressed the importance of building team spirit among the players and commended
the efforts of their Head Coach Chandrishan Perera and Assistant Coach K. P.
Narantota who have worked tirelessly to convert this team into a match-winning
combination.
“We started training well
ahead of the tournament and our intention was to build up a good combination
and excellent team spirit which I believe will be an added advantage going into
this competition.
“We have also concentrated on
the fitness level of the players and the latest techniques in sevens rugby with
our coach Chandrishan Perera who has worked hard during the last couple of
weeks to mould this team into a formidable combination.”
The Sri Lankan coach further
noted that the team is studded with a number of powerful runners and most of
them who have mastered the art of sevens rugby having displayed their skills at
domestic tournaments.
“I think the strength in the
team is our back division because we have a couple of excellent wing three
quarters who should be able to cause some major problems to the opposition,”
added Thanuja Weerakkody.
The Sri Lanka women’s rugby
team will battle it out for the Cup Championship along with the elite in the
Asian region including Japan, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Philippines, Guam,
Thailand and Malaysia.
The Sri Lanka Women’s Rugby Team:
NameClubPositionHeight
Weight
Thanuja Weerakkody (Cap) Navy SC Fly
half/centre 5ft 6 54
kg
Randika KumudumaliNavy
SCProp forward6ft
564 kg
Kumari DassanayakeArmy
SCProp forward5ft
260 kg
Sandeepa SandamaliNavy
SCProp forward5ft
354 kg
Dineshika MunasingheArmy
SCScrum half5ft
246 kg
Rukshani AriyasenaArmy
SCFly
half5ft 250 kg
Ayesha PereraArmy SCWinger5ft
453 kg
Heshala KarunaratneAir
Force SCProp forward5ft
358 kg
Sanjeewani WijetillekeNavy
SCCentre/hooker5ft 351
kg
Niranjala PriyadarshaniArmy
SC Centre/hooker5ft
356 kg
Ayesha KaluarachchiAir
Force SCScrum half5ft
141 kg
Centre
three quarter Thanuja Weerakkody of Sri Lanka Navy Sports Club will captain the
Sri Lanka women’s sevens rugby team for the HSBC Asian Rugby Football Union
seven a side tournament which will be worked off on September 21 and 22 in
Thailand.
The final
12 member squad was named yesterday following a series of trials conducted
under the supervision of Head Coach Chandrishan Perera and Assistant Coach K.
P. Naranthota at HavelockPark.
In fact former
Chairman National Selection Committee Chandrishan Perera will be coaching the
women’s rugby team for the first time having been involved with the men’s
national sevens team for a short stint from 2005 to 2006.
Sri
Lanka’s best achievement in sevens rugby came in 2005 where they clinched the
Bowl Championship and last year they had the satisfaction of emerging runners
up in the Bowl tournament in India.
The Sri Lanka
women’s sevens rugby team:
Thanuja
Weerakkody (captain – Navy SC), Randhika Kumudumali (Navy SC), A. J. I. P. K.
Dassanayake (Army SC), Sandeepa Sandamali (Navy SC), H. A. N. D. Munasinghe
(Army SC), Rukshani Ariyasena (Army SC), Ayesha Perera (Army SC), Heshala
Karunaratne (Air Force SC), Sanju Wijetilleke (Navy SC), Niranjala Wickremaratne
(Army SC), Tharaka Kaluarachchi (Air Force SC) and Anusha Attanayake (Air Force
SC).
Officials:
Chandrishan Perera (Head coach), K. P. Narantota (assistant coach), Ms.
Niroshani Wijeratne (physiotherapist), Surgeon Captain Ms. R. P. N. N. Wijedoru
(manageress) C.D
Tamil Union’s
hat-trick of U-23 Div. 1 Cricket C’ships
Chris Dhambarage
Tamil
Union Cricket and Athletic Club have done it again and this time in a more
spectacular manner. They have retained the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Under-23 Division
One Championship for the third successive year.
Last week
they completed a memorable tournament when they pulled off a convincing 257 run
outright victory over Moors Sports Club in the three-day final encounter worked
off at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Khettarama.
It also
turned out to be a fitting farewell for their coach Jeevantha Kulatunga who will
be stepping down from the club after this tournament to take up duties as the head
coach of the Sri Lanka Women’s Cricket Team.
“I think
this is one of the greatest achievements in my coaching career and to sign off
things on a victorious note certainly gives me that extra confidence ahead of
another important assignment,” said the former Sri Lanka all rounder.
The
former captain of MaliyadevaCollege, Kurunegala YCC
and Colts Cricket Club all rounder believed that he has got the opportunity of
proving his credentials as a coach although he is still disappointed that he
was not given more chances to impress as a player for his country.
“This is
no doubt a turning point in my coaching career prospects and it provides me the
opportunity to give something back to my country even though as a player I had
only a couple of chances to represent Sri Lanka.”
The
dashing right hander who represented the country in just two Twenty20
internationals said that spearheading Tamil Union to win the under-23
championship for the second successive year gave him a great amount of
satisfaction before relinquishing his role as the head coach.
“Guiding
Tamil Union towards success in this under-23 tournament for the second
successive year is a very important achievement because we were minus six
regular players from last year’s champion outfit.
“But we
had a great amount of confidence from the start of the tournament and the
players had a strong belief in themselves and that helped them to register as
many as four outright victories during the preliminary round.
“I think
we were pitted in the toughest group and every match was keenly contested and
there were plenty of close results which put our players under tremendous
pressure throughout the competition.
“The
manner in which the team pulled off the final league match against Sri Lanka
Army Sports Club was really outstanding because the players showed a lot of
character to snatch the game outright by 59 runs after having conceded first
innings points.”
Jeevantha
Kulatunga who had recently guided the Melbourne
based Oasis Cricket Club to win the Twenty20 Championship as coach cum player
stated that they were able to dominate the final due to some outstanding
cricket from their key players.
“We were under
great pressure once again in the final as well as our batting did not click
well and we managed to post only 223 runs in the first innings after having
elected to bat first on a good batting surface.
“I had never
walked onto the grounds when a match is
in progress but this time I was compelled to come out and have a chat with my
key bowler Thineth Manishka who delivered the goods almost immediately by removing
the danger man Shehan Jayasuriya.
“I think
Manishka has all the talent and the potential to take his career into the next
level and with his height and long strides he should be able to make headlines
for his country in the coming years.
“Top
order batsman Rumesh Buddhika also played a very important innings for his team
and together with all rounder Matheesha Perera they completely sealed the final
in our favour with two brilliant individual contributions.
“I think
it was all about a mind game at the end and we were able to have a
psychological advantage throughout the final because out of the entire nine
sessions in the match we batted for six and a half while Moors could bat only
for two and a half sessions” added Jeevantha Kulatunga.
How Tamil Union
fared in the tournament:
Beat
Singha SC Ambalangoda outright by 4 wickets at P. Sara Oval
(Tamil
Union: 288 and 115-6, SinghaSC: 93 and 304)
Beat NCC
on the first innings at Maitland
Place
(NCC: 207
and 102-3, Tamil Union: 240)
Beat Sri
Lanka Navy SC outright by 10 wickets at P. Sara Oval
(Tamil Union: 314 and 24-0, Navy SC: 146 and 190)
Beat
Colts CC outright by 9 wickets at HavelockPark
(Colts
CC: 96 and 294, Tamil Union: 280 and 112-1)
Beat CCC
on the first innings at the P. Sara Oval
(Tamil Union: 362-3 and 157-5, CCC: 236)
Beat Sri
Lanka Army SC outright by 59 runs at Panagoda
(Tamil
Union: 202 and 210, ArmySC: 245 and 108)
(Final)
Beat
Moors SC outright by 257 runs at the R. Premadasa Stadium
(Tamil Union: 223 and 442, Moors SC: 181 and 227)
Caption:
Pictured
here is the champion Tamil Union cricket team which won the SLC Under-23
Division One title. Seated (from left): Mahesh
Dilantha Bopage (Manager Cricket), Kithuruwan Vithanage , Suresh Murugaser (Chairman
of Cricket), Denuwan Rajakaruna (Captain), Dinal Phillips (President of Tamil
Union C & AC ), Pulina Tharanga (Vice Captain ), Jeevantha Kulathunga (Head
Coach ), Romesh Buddhika, Matheesa Perera. Standing 1st row (from left):
Gamini Perera (Team Assistant), Rushan Jaleel , Chamikara Edirisinghe, Fabian
Fernando , Thineth Manishka , Ruwantha Kallepotha, Rajinda Punchihewa, Minhaj
Jalil, Nisala Tharaka, Nipun Kariyawasam, Pramod Liyanagamage, Raveendra
Fernando (Official Scorer). Standing 2nd row (from left): Devind Pathmanathan,
Mogan Raj, Leo Fransisco, Manoj Sarathchandra, Darshana Mahawattha and Ishara
Prasan
A host of top long distance runners from around the World will be vying
for major honours at the 13th annual LSR Colombo Marathon race which
will be worked off on October 6 from Colombo to Negombo.This marathon
which was inaugurated in 1998 with a participation of just 300
competitors has now grown in status to become one of the most popular
and looked after sporting events in the international athletics
calendar similar to the famous races named after cities such as London,
New York, Hawaii Singapore etc. The most significant feature in this
event is the increasing number of foreign participants over the years
with already over fifty top overseas long distance runners having
confirmed their participation.
In fact there were only 28
foreign competitors in the inaugural event in Galle but last year that
amount increased to 73 and altogether a record number of over three
thousand competitors participated in six different events. The main
attraction of course will be on the men’s and women’s full marathon
where the competitors will cover a distance of 42.195 kilo metres for a
prize money of US dollars 2,500.00 each plus an air ticket from
SriLankan Airlines.
Last year Kenyan Geoffrey Birgen retained
the men’s title for the second successive year clocking two hours,
26.40 seconds while his compatriot Kiprop John Samoei was placed third
behind the runner up Ajith Bandara of Sri Lanka. Incidentally Kenyan
athletes have had a complete stronghold in the men’s full marathon
during the last couple of years as in 2011 they made a clean sweep with
Geoffrey Birgen finishing ahead of his countrymen Kimutai Kenedy and
Ezekiel Kogo.
The men’s and women’s runners-up in the
full marathon will receive a cash award of US dollars 1,500.00 each,
third place US dollars 1,000.00, fourth place US dollars 500.00, fifth
place US dollars 250.00 and sixth to tenth places US dollars 100.00
each.The other events that will be worked off are the full marathon for
veterans men and women (50 and above), half marathon for men and women
(17 and above), half marathon for veterans (50 and above), 10 kilo
metre fun run for men and women (15 and above) and 5 kilo metre fun run
for men and women (15 and above).
This year the organisers are
expecting over five thousand competitors for the full marathon and the
half marathon in addition to the four other mini events which will be
worked off concurrently. The marathon will be flagged off at 6.00 a. m.
on October 6 from close proximity to the Independent Square and the
competitors will proceed along Borella, Dematagoda, Peliyagoda,
Wattala, alongside the Hamilton Canal, Pamunugama, Thalahena, Pitipana,
Doowa and will finish at the Negombo Beach Park.
The LSR
Colombo Marathon is organised and conducted by the Lanka Sportreizen
and SriLankan Airlines in collaboration with the Ministry of Sports,
Athletic Association, Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of
Education, Ministry of Youth Affairs, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions
Bureau, Department Sports Medicine, Colombo Municipal Council, Negombo
Municipal Council and Sri Lanka Police.
First Sri Lankan to win a medal in World Para
Championships
.
Abled by spirit Sanjaya transcends limitations
Chris Dhambarage
In the year 2008 he suffered
a huge setback and his promising sporting career was in complete shambles when
his left hand was paralyzed due to severe gunshot injuries which he suffered in
battle at the warfront in Kilinochchi.
Five years later Pradeep
Sanjaya a twenty-seven-year-old rural athlete from Talawa, Anuradhapura has
successfully turned a new leaf in the country’s sporting history becoming the
first Sri Lankan disabled athlete to win a medal in a World Para Championship
meet.
Last week the Staff Sergeant
attached to the Singha Regiment of the Sri Lanka Army produced a magnificent
performance to clinch the bronze medal in the men’s 400 metres track 56 event
at the IPLC World Para Championships worked off in Lyon, France.
The former schoolboy of
Rajayanganaya MV Anuradhapura and Delwela MV Mihirigama returned a timing of
50.03 seconds with Gunther Matzinger of Austria taking the gold medal in this
event with a timing of 49.45 seconds.
With this success Pradeep
Sanjaya was able to complete back-to-back medals following similar success in
last year’s London Para Olympic Games.
“I am really proud of this
achievement as this performance has brought great honour to my country although
the timing was not all that impressive compared to my effort at the Para
Olympic Games in London last year,” said a determined Pradeep Sanjaya.
His success was even more
significant considering the fact that he was the only athlete to win a medal
from the Sri Lankan contingent and was competing against heavy odds under
gloomy conditions and even without the backing of his regular coach Jansz
Dissanayake who had to miss the tour due to unavoidable circumstances.
“I think the main reason for
this was the wind factor at this venue which had a great effect on most of the
competitors especially during the last 50 metres of the race where I had to
fight hard to keep the momentum going.
“In fact if not for the
strong winds and the unusual weather I would have had a definite chance of
challenging the top two competitors in this event because I was very much in
front almost until the first 300 metres.”
Earlier Pradeep Sanjaya had
the credit of taking the second place in heat number one with a good timing of
50.23 seconds and was vying for honours along with thirteen other top
competitors in this event.
This success would certainly
provide Pradeep Sanjaya the needed confidence to persevere in his career as he
looked forward to make vast strides in disabled sports by competing in more
international tournaments in the coming years.
Pradeep Sanjaya who launched
his career at Sri Lanka Army as a Lance Corporal was able to make a lasting
impression in his very first international assignment where he bagged the
bronze medal at the Open Para Championships in Malaysia in 2012.
This was in fact a huge achievement
and a turning point in his sporting career because he also booked a direct
entry into the London Para Olympic Games by virtue of reaching the required
qualifying standard timing.
Pradeep Sanjaya never looked
back from there onwards and took another giant step in his sporting career when
he won the bronze medal once again at the London Para Olympic Games which
earned him double promotion at Sri Lanka Army into the ranks of Staff
Sergeant.
His latest heroics have once
again brought great honour and fame to Sri Lanka as he looks forward towards
enhancing his career prospects in an attempt to fulfill his ultimate goal of
winning a gold medal in an international event.
“I am very much pleased with
this performance because this is a great morale booster for my career prospects
and I am very much thankful to all the officers of Sri Lanka Army for providing
me the much needed support and the encouragement”.
“I would certainly work hard
in the coming events and bring more medals to my country and my next target is
the 2014 Asian Para Games in South Korea and the World Para Championships.
“However my long awaited
dream is of course to win a gold medal at the next Para Olympic Games in Brazil
before retiring from the sport” added Pradeep Sanjaya.
The fact file
Name: Pradeep Sanjaya
Current age: 27 years
Place of birth: Talawa, Anuradhapura
School attended:
Rajayanganaya MV Anuradhapura and Delwela MV Mihirigama
Club: Army SC
Event: 400 metres Track 56
First major tournament: Asian
Open Para Championship in Malaysia 2012
Best timing: 49.28 seconds at
Olympic Games in London, 2012
