Sir John Tarbat Junior Championships Stage I 

By Reemus Fernando  

In a remarkable performance for a junior athlete, Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa thrower Mayon Rajasinghe cleared 49.32 metres to top the list in the Under 14 boys’ javelin throw on day two of the Stage One competition of Sir John Tarbat Junior Athletics Championships at Bandaragama on Sunday.

Rajasinghe came almost close to breaking the 2019 meet record (49.69 metres) held by Sadeepa Irosh of Joseph Vaz’s College, Wennappuwa. Rajasinghe will be the athlete to watch in the boys’ javelin throw when the national level competition of this meet is held in November.

Rajasinghe was the only athlete to hurl the javelin over the 40 metres mark yesterday. His closest rival H.T.T. Dinsara of D.S. Senanayake College cleared a distance of 34.06 metres.

The Western Province competition which commenced at Bandaragama on Saturday is one of the four province-based competitions conducted by the Sri Lanka Schools Athletics Association to select athletes for the national level competition of the Sir John Tarbat Junior Athletics Championships.

Western Province attracts the highest number of participants for the Sir John Tarbat Junior Championships. Some of the disciplines conducted on the first two days saw over 300 athletes competing to grab a minimum of 15 slots allocated to the Western Province and also to reach merit standards.

Athletes reaching merit standards in their respective disciplines were treated to a pleasant surprise as they receive their merit certificates even before they warmed down following the completion of their events.

Sri Lanka Schools Athletics Association, the organizers of the flagship schools track and field event had taken steps this year to award merit certificates right after the event. The duly signed certificates are awarded to athletes even before they leave the arena.