Four of the Sri Lanka junior Athletics team scorched their way into the finals at the 18th Asian Junior Athletic Championship (AJAC) which commenced today (7th) at the Nagaragawa Stadium in Gifu, Japan.
It was an exciting day for the Sri Lankan youngsters, where all four Sri Lankan Junior athletes who took to the track on the opening day managed to secure spots in the finals of their respective events.
Dilishi cruises to the final despite confusion
Dilishi Kumarasinghe was the first Sri Lankan Athlete to take the field competing in the Women’s 400m heat 02. Dilishi’s heat got on to a nervy beginning as there was a false start and all the athletes were shown a green card denoting a ‘technical false start’. On the second attempt, things looked to be in place as the Japanese athlete Yuri Okumura got to a great start and sprinted away from the rest of the runners. Dilishi, however, paced herself well and gained on the Japanese with 200m to spare. There was an official who was frantically waving a yellow flag just before the home stretch while the announcer at the ground requested the athletes to stop the race. The Athletes continued with Sri Lankan Dilishi managing to finish the race in top place. Despite the confusion, the organizer later confirmed the results and the reason for the yellow flag and announcement has reportedly been due to a few start-blocks not recording the reaction times. Dilishi clocked the best time in the second heat with 54.82secs to secure her place in the final. Indian Olympian quarter miler Jisna Mathew who won the first heat clocking 54.78secs recorded the best time from the two heats and will be Dilishi’s biggest challenger in the final for Gold. Dilishi will be competing in lane 07 with Jisna in lane 08 which will be an interesting matchup.
The Women’s 400m final will be held at 12.00pm (Sri Lankan time) on the 08th of June.
Live Updates – Asian Junior Athletic Championship
Sri Lankan Juniors will be in action in Gifu, Japan from the 7th to 10th of..
Amasha runs personal best time in Japan
Undisputed junior sprint queen of South Asia, Amasha De Silva made easy work of her heat as she managed to clock a time of 11.80secs which is her personal best time. It is a great start to the championship by the young sprinter who bettered her previous best of 11.92secs in a race where she was barely challenged. Amasha’s time was the fastest time across the two heats and is in with a great chance to clinch a Gold medal in the event.
The Women’s 100m final will be held at 01.55pm (Sri Lankan time) on the 08th of June.
Live Updates – Asian Junior Athletic Championship
Sri Lankan Juniors will be in action in Gifu, Japan from the 7th to 10th of..
Aruna and Pasindu make easy work of the 400m Round 1
The two junior quarter milers Pasindu Kodikara and Aruna Darshana made easy work of the first round of their events managing to win them in convincing fashion.
Pasindu who took part in the first heat of the event ran a controlled race and managed to accelerate in the final bend surpassing the competition from Malaysia and Thailand to win the race comfortably. Pasindu clocked a time of 47.94secs to qualify for the final of the event and will be competing in lane 5 in the final.
Aruna competed in the third heat in the 400m and displayed his supremacy as one of the leading athletes in the event in Asia as he managed to blitz through the heat with a dazzling run. Running in lane 06 Aruna dominated from the start and had created a gap of around 15m reaching the finish line. The young Sri Lankan speedster clocked 46.89secs to take the win and was the only athlete to have run sub 47secs in the event. Darashana’s biggest rival in the final will be Japanese sprinter Syuji Mori who won the second heat of the competition. Syuji will be running in lane 05 with Pasindu and Aruna either side of him in lane 04 & 06 respectively.
The Men’s 400m final will be held at 12.10 pm (Sri Lankan time) on the 08th of June.
Live Updates – Asian Junior Athletic Championship
Sri Lankan Juniors will be in action in Gifu, Japan from the 7th to 10th of..
Log on to www.ThePapare.com/Athletics/#ajac to receive live updates on the progress of the Sri Lankan junior athletes at the 18th Asian Junior Athletic Championship.
