Mayon smashes meet record to dominate Western Province meet

by Reemus Fernando

Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa thrower Mayon Rajasinghe, Mahanama College, Colombo sprinter Sithula Dulsara, Ananda Sastralaya, Mathugama sprinter B. Adithya and Tharani Nirmina of Holy Cross College, Gampaha were among the top athletes to make their presence felt with impressive performances as the three-day Western Province events of the Sir John Tarbat Junior Championships concluded at Bandaragama on Monday.

Rajasinghe, who was the top performer in both the discus throw and the javelin throw on the first two days, once again hogged the limelight winning the Under 14 boys’ shot put held under a scorching sun. After missing the javelin throw meet record by a slender margin on Sunday, Rajasinghe made no mistake this time in claiming the record in the shot put.

He threw the put to a distance of 13.72 metres to shatter the previous record (13.45m) held by Shashan Induwara of Rohana Vidyalaya, Kalthota, Balangoda (2018).

Trained by his father, a former thrower, Rajasinghe was the only athlete to clear the 13 metres barrier. M.R.M. Fonseka of St. Benedict’s College, Kotahena cleared a distance of 12.51 metres to finish behind him.

Mahanama College, Colombo sprinter Sithula Dulsara was the top performer in at least two events. He was the fastest in the Under 14 boys’ 200 metres finishing in a time of 25.7 seconds and cleared a distance of 5.31 metres in the long jump. In the Under 14 boys’ 100 metres he (12.2 secs) was second only to H. Methsilu (12.0 secs) of Lumbini.

Adithya was the fastest athlete in both the 100 metres (11.5 secs) and the 200 metres in the Under 15 boys’ category. He clocked 23.7 seconds in the 200 metres. His was also the third fastest time in the 400 metres (55.3 seconds).

Holy Cross College, Gampaha sprinter Tharani Nirmina was the top performer in both the 100 metres and 200 metres in the Under 15 girls’ category. She clocked 27.1 seconds in the 200 metres and returned a time of 13.3 seconds in the 100 metres dash. She was also the fifth fastest in the 400 metres (64.4 secs).

In the Under 14 girls’ events, Dilini Rajapakse dominated the 200 metres (27.5 secs) and long jump (5.32m) while producing the second fastest time in the 100m (13.7 secs).

The three-day event which is one of the four provincial stage competitions selected the top performers of the province to take part in the Sir John Tarbat Junior Championship which will be held in November.