Amesha Hettiarachchi won a bronze in the 400m hurdles
Quarter-miler Navishka Sandeesh anchored the Sri Lanka relay team to win a silver medal with another mesmerizing 400m lap, while hurdler Amesha Hettiarachchi clinched a bronze, as Sri Lanka finished with two silvers and a bronze at the 3rd Asian Youth Athletics Championship concluded at Hong Kong yesterday.
Sri Lanka had high hopes of winning a gold medal in the boys medley relay after clocking the better time in the two heats, but in the final, sprinter Milinda Perera could not keep up with the rest in the 200m, and was fifth when he handed over the baton to Isuru Abeywardene who ran the 300m lap. Isuru, who missed out from the 400m final, ran his heart out in the 300m closing the gap and passed the baton in 4th place to Navishka, who then flew through the 400m and overtook the Chinese, Chinese Taipei as well as host Hong Kong runners during the final stretch to finish second clocking 1 minute 55.04 seconds to finish behind India who won the gold clocking 1 minute 54.04 seconds.
Earlier, hurdler Amesha Hettiarachchi clocked 01 minute 01.47 seconds in the 400m hurdle to win a bronze medal, which was the only medal won by the girls. Hailing from Viharamahadevi Girls College Kandy and trained by coach S.P. Vithana, Amesha was a prime medal prospect for Sri Lanka going into the championship, but the gold and silver medals went to Arisa Weruwanarak of Thailand (01: 00.52 sec) and Jui Yang of China (01:00.82 sec) who registered faster times. - KR
SRI LANKA RESULTS
Silver: Boys Medley Relay Team (100m - Hirusha Hashen, 200m - Milinda Perera, 300m - Isuru Abayawardana, 400m - Navishka Sandeesh) 1:55.04 sec
Silver: Navishka Sandeesh - 400m 48.26 (personal best)
Bronze: Amesha Hettiarachchi – 400m hurdles 01.1 .42 sec
Other notable performances
Sadeepa Henderson (Gateway Colombo) 5th in 200m 24.98 sec (personal best)
Shanika Lakshani (Holy Cross Gampaha) 4th in 800m
Ishara Pallegama (Ibbagamuwa CC) 4th in High Jump girls 1.65m
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