Sports
Pushpakumara: an unsung hero
A decade of steeplechase dominance
by Reemus Fernando
Dominating any sport for a long time is not an easy task. It takes commitment and a deep devotion to the sport to perform continuously at the top level specially when rewards for achievements are hard to come by. Rajapaksha Mudiyanselage Samantha Pushpakumara, lovingly called ‘Blackiya’ by fellow athletes, is one of the rare performers who demonstrated such commitment and determination to dominate one of track and field’s more demanding disciplines, the 3,000 metres steeplechase for almost ten years.
From 2011 he was the undisputed champion in his pet event, the 3000 metres steeplechase, which is still to attract the recognition it richly deserves in Sri Lanka and the South Asian region. Pushpakumara clocked 9:05.45 seconds to win his maiden national title in 2011 reached his peak six years later when he clocked a notable 8:52.19 seconds at the National Championship in 2017. That personal best performance powered him to the 30th position in Asian rankings behind a host of Japanese and African born athletes. That was the third fastest performance in the South Asian region that year.
The absence of this endurance discipline at the South Asian Games has prevented the likes of Pushpakumara from hogging limelight at the regional event and testing their true potentials by competing against tough opposition. However, despite such drawbacks and even the absence of the event at the National Sports Festival, Pushpakumara has persevered in this discipline for more than a decade now.
Though, Sri Lanka started this discipline only after a synthetic track was first laid at the Sugathadasa Stadium in 1989, it has a long history in Asia with both the Asian Games (1951) and the Asian Athletics Championships (1973) featuring the event from the very inception.
Of the steeplechase races conducted at the National Championships since 1989, Pushpakumara has accounted for nearly one third of the titles, an achievement that needs to be applauded. Apart from the National titles, Pushpakumara has accounted for many Sri Lanka Army Athletics titles, Defence Services Championship titles and bagged numerous trial meet victories.
For an athlete who has dominated the discipline for so many years, the national record was probably the only achievement that he could not accomplish. According to Sri Lanka Athletics Recorder Saman Kumara, Pushpakumara is ranked third in the country’s all-time best performers’ list in the steeplechase.
Only the national record holder Shantha Mendis and former national champion Upendra Indika Bandara have run faster than Pushpakumara in the history of this discipline.
Apart from steeplechase, Pushpakumara also found success in the 5,000 metres and the Cross Country winning titles including the National Sports Festival title on more than one occasion.
Pushpakumara’s commitment for steeplechase and long-distance events was rewarded by Sri Lanka Athletics when he was selected for a few international events including the Asian Cross Country Championships and the Vietnam Open Athletics Championships. In 2017 he was the winner of both the steeplechase and the 1500 metres at the Vietnam Open Athletics Championships.
He was picked for the South Asian Games teams solely on merit of his 5000 metres performances as his pet event was yet to debut at the regional event.
With no big achievements to his credit at school level, Pushpakumara honed his ability to run distance events after joining the Army. But it took several years after joining the Artillery Regiment, for him to carve a niche for himself as a formidable steeplechaser at national level.
The only child in the family, Pushpakumara had “won village Avurudu races” but “had no big victories at school level” as a student of Mellawagedara MV, Divulapitiya. His first notable achievement whilst in the Army came in 2008 when he was placed third in the 5,000 metres at the Army Athletics Championship. That was after he came under the supervision of Brigadier Parry Liyanage who was a mentor to many leading distance runners including Chaminda Wijekoon and Anurada Indrajith Cooray who later went on to establish Sri Lanka records in the men’s 1500 metres and the marathon respectively.
After dominating the steeplechase for nearly a decade, Pushpakumara has decided to shift his focus to distance road events. He won the 5000 metres at the last National Athletics Championship hheld in December but had to be content with the runner up title in the 3,000 metres steeplechase. It was the first time in ten years that the title eluded him.
He will probably make one last attempt to regain the title at the next National Championships under the guidance of Upali Wickramasinghe, who has been training him for a long time now. The result of the men’s steeplechase at the next nationals will be of little interest to Pushpakumara’s fans as he has already left a lasting impression in their hearts.
Profile
Name: Rajapaksha Mudiyanselage
Samantha Pushpakumara
Date of birth:
16th March 1983
Club:
Sri Lanka Army
Personal Bests:
1,500m:
3:53.59 secs
3,000m Steeplechase:
8:52.19secs
5,000m:
14:26.68 secs
Coaches:
Parry Liyanage,
Upali Wickramasinghe
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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