Young guns finish high at 6th Asian U-18 Meet
Sri Lanka finished the 6th Asian U-18 Athletics Championship in Saudi Arabia with its highest ever medals tally, securing eight—a gold, three silver, and four bronze—finishing in ninth place overall. This marks the country’s largest medal haul in the championship’s history across six editions.
Middle-distance runner Tharushi Abhisheka of Wikramabahu National School, Gampola, was the standout performer, claiming Sri Lanka’s second-ever gold medal in Asian U-18 Championship history. Following in the footsteps of Tharushi Karunaratne–the Olympian, she clocked 2 minutes 14.86 seconds to win gold in the Girls’ 800m final, the nation’s first gold since Yamani Dulanjali’s victory in the 400m Hurdles in 2015.
Tharushi Abhisheka (2nd left) won a gold medal as well as a silver with the medley relay team
Tharushi later anchored the women’s short-distance medley relay team, alongside Dilki Nehara, Dhananjana Fernando, and Sansala Himashini, to win silver behind China. This marked the second medal for Tharushi, Dilki, and Dhananjana, while it served as a consolation for Sansala, who had fallen at the second hurdle in the 400m Hurdles, ending her individual medal hopes. Dilki secured bronze in the Triple Jump with a leap of 12.35m, while Dhananjana won silver in the 100m with a time of 11.92 seconds before claiming her second medal in the relay.
In other events, 800m runner Savindu Awishka led until the 750m mark before settling for bronze with a time of 1:53.41. Pavan Nethya Sampath cleared 2.03m to secure bronze in the Boys’ High Jump. On day one, Janith Lakshan Jenkins of St. Sylvester’s College, Kandy, opened Sri Lanka’s medal tally with silver in the Triple Jump (15.10m). On day two, Lahiru Achintha earned bronze in the 1500m (3:59.76).
Meanwhile Sri Lanka lost two possible medals in the Women’s 1500m final due to a costly blunder by the Sri Lankan officials. Ayesha Sewwandi (Namadagasweva MV, Hambantota) and Niduki Prarthana (Baranakankattuwa KV, Mundal), ranked second and third based on season’s best performances, missed their event when Sri Lankan officials failed to direct them to the call room on time. When they finally arrived, meet officials denied them participation as the final call had already been made.
Ayesha trains under Sujith Abeysekara and former Olympian Nimali Liyanarachchi, while Niduki is coached by Madura Perera. Neither coach accompanied the official Sri Lankan contingent, which included only middle-distance coach Buddika Nuwan (who coaches gold medalist Tharushi) and team manager N.A.T. Jayasinghe.