Shehan Ambepitiya can make another attempt to go for a medal when he qualified for the semi-final in the 200 metres event for men at the 19th Commonwealth Games yesterday.
He finished third in the second round in a personal best time of 21.12 seconds. He finished fourth in the first round heat in a time of 21.17 seconds held in the morning.
Shehan Ambepitiya |
All four finishers in that heat came within the 21 seconds time and the winner Mosito Lehata returned a time of 21.02 seconds.
The best time achieved during the heats is 20.97 seconds by Jarede Connaughton of Canada. Will Ambepitiya be able to clock such a time?
Dilrukshi Priyadarshani also qualified to the finals in the long jump event for women. She leapt to a distance of 6.11 metres in the qualifying round held in the morning.
Manjula Kumara Wijesekera was the other hopeful for a medal for Sri Lanka but he also fell short of the target and finished 9th in the high jump final held last evening. He managed to clear only 2.15 metres whereas he cleared 2.16 metres to qualify for the final. His personal best performance was 2.27 metres. He failed to go over the bar on three consecutive attempts.
Nadeeka Lakmali had finished her throws in the Javelin final but her best throw was to a distance of 53.36 metres. She did not have a chance to win a medal.
Boxer Manju Wanniaarachchi met with success when he beat his opponent from Seychelles in a close bout.
Nuwani Navodya and Ishara Madurangi lost their matches in the individual events in table tennis. However, Rohan Sirisena and Dinesh Deshapriya won their matches in the men’s event. Deshapriya in particular played very well to defeat his opponent from South Africa by four matches to nil.
Weightlifter Srimal Abeykoon lifted 120 kilos in the snatch discipline but failed beyond that. He also failed to lift his weight in the clean and jerk and dropped out of any medal prospect.
The two parasport swimmers also failed to qualify beyond the first round. Sunil Amarasinghe and Niluka Tillakaratne participated in the 100 metres freestyle event for men.
Individual events in badminton is now underway and Chandrika de Silva defeated her Jamaincan opponents in straight sets while Subodha Dahanayake also beat her Kenyan opponent after she retired in the second set.
Thilini Jayasinghe also went past the first round when she defeated her opponent from Jersey in straight sets. Dinuka Karunaratne, Niluka Karunaratne and Lasitha Karunathilaka also won their matches in the men’s events.
The mixed doubles pair of Lasitha Karunathilaka and Chandrika de Silva lost to their Australian opponents 0/2. However, this is the first time that Sri Lanka’s badminton players won six singles matches in an international event.
The rugby tournament begins today and Sri Lanka is drawn into a tough group D, with England and Australia as the toughest teams. |
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