Sri Lanka win mixed relay silver medal at Asian Relays

Sri Lanka mixed relay team settled for the silver medal as they finished second behind India in the 4×400 metres mixed relay final on day one of the Asian Relay Championship in Bangkok, Thailand on Monday.

The team anchored by Nadeesha Ramanayake clocked 3:17.00 seconds to finish behind India whose quartet returned a time of 3:14.12 seconds.

Sri Lanka were given a strong start by Aruna Dharshana before Lakshima Mendis and Padindu Kodikara ran the next two laps to their credit.

While vying for Asian medals the teams competing in Bangkok also eye the last two remaining slots in every Olympic relay. The top 14 slots of every Olympic relays were secured by top teams at the World Relays in the Bahamas. The last two slots in every Olympic relay will be awarded to the highest ranked teams by finishing time.

Both India and Sri Lanka were no where close to ousting Chech Republic (3:11.98) and Italy (3:14.56) who are currently occupying the 15th and 16th positions in the ‘Road to Paris’ Olympics rankings for the mixed relay.

Currently the men’s 4×400 team is the closest to achieving the Olympic slot.

Kalinga Kumarage who competed in Tokyo during the weekend was expected to join the teams in Thailand yesterday. (RF)