Sri Lanka wins two gold medals in taekwondo

The women's volleyball team after securing the bronze medal 

The men’s volleyball team after securing the bronze medal – Pix by Sameera Peiris

By Naushad Amit reporting from Kathmandu

Sri Lanka’s taekwondokas claimed the honour of winning its first set of medals, capturing a silver and three bronze medals, on the second day of the 13th South Asian Games, which took place in Kathmandu, Nepal yesterday. 

Prominent amongst these efforts was the success of Ranuka Prabath and his teammate Isuri Mendis, who clinched two gold medals in taekwondo. 

At the end of Day 2, Nepal leads the medals tally with a total of 15 medals – nine gold, two silver and four bronze medals - followed by India (two golds, six silvers and three bronzes) and Sri Lanka, which has the same tally as the hosts but with fewer gold medals (two golds, four silvers and nine bronzes).  

Two golds and three silvers from taekwondo

Young Prabath won Sri Lanka’s first gold medal in the Male Individual Poomsae Above 17 years to Under-23 category with 8.250 points, as Nepal’s Krishna Tamang secured the silver medal with 8.20 points. Kamrul Islam of Bangladesh and Ngawang Yonten of Bhutan secured bronze medals with 8.060 points.

Prabath then paired up with Mendis to win the gold medal in the Pairs Poomsae of the Above 17 years to Under-23 category with 8.230 points. Shilpa Tapa and Kunnal Kumar of India secured the silver medal with 8.210 points while Nepal’s Ashmin Raut and Sina Limbu and Bangladesh’s Nooruddin Hussin and Ruma Khatan won the bronze medals. 

Sri Lanka won three silver medals in taekwondo with Thilakshika Jayaweera clinching one in the Above 23 years to Under 29 category, Lakshman Ilandarige winning it in the Above 29 years category, despite sharing 8.110 points with Dipu Chakma, the gold medal-winner from Bangladesh, and Jayaweera and Nissanka Jayasinghe sealing silver in the Pairs of the Above 23 years to Under 23 category. 

Isuri Mendis won a bronze medal in the Women’s Individual Poomsae Above 17 Years to Under 23 category, behind a Nepalese and Indian competitor. Gayathri Sandamali won a bronze medal in the Women’s Above 29 years category in addition to a bronze won by Nissanka Jayasinghe in the Men’s Above 23 years to Under-29 category.  

Taekwondokas first to earn Lanka medals

Heshani Hettiarachchi secured Sri Lanka’s first medal, a bronze, in the Women’s Singles, where Pakistani athlete Shaida won the gold medal with 42 points, Nepal’s Chanchala Danuwar, who lost to her Pakistani opponent, secured 35 points and the silver medal. Bangladesh’s Humaira Akther Khan shared the bronze medal with Hettiarachchi.

Balu Sountharasa secured Sri Lanka’s second bronze medal in the Men’s Single Kata event, which gave Nepal the gold medal and Pakistan the silver medal. Nepal’s Kaji Shrestha earned 25.72 points, to defeat Pakistan’s Niamatulla, who settled for a silver medal with 24.92 points. Bangladesh’s Hassan Khan shared the bronze medal with Sountharasa.

Sri Lanka secured its third bronze medal in the Women’s Team Kata event, as Nepal defeated Pakistan to win the gold medal. But the Sri Lanka men’s team produced a commanding performance against hosts Nepal, before falling short by a thin margin and settling down in silver medal position. 

Nepal secured 25.4 points while Sri Lanka almost sealed the top position, before finishing the team event with 25.16 points, 0.34 points behind.  

Shuttlers dominate team events 

Sri Lanka’s shuttlers are in a position to secure gold medals in the badminton team events, after their impressive performances at Covered Hall in Pokhara. Women’s team skipper Achini Ratnasiri, Dilmi Dias and Thilini Hendahewa easily won their semi-final matches against their Nepali opponents, while the men’s combination of Sachin Dias, Buwaneka Goonathilake and skipper Dinuka Karunaratne triumphed for their country to advance to the next stage. Dias recorded his second win in the men’s semi-final while Ranthushka Sasindu recorded the only defeat the Sri Lanka team suffered.

Dias took the courts as the first shuttler to appear for Sri Lanka, and faced an early blow when his opponent from Nepal, Dipesh Dhami, claimed the first set 24-22. But Dias gathered all his experience to prove the early loss was just a fluke by securing the second and third sets comprehensively 21-18 and 21-16.

Sasindu too experienced a similar setback in the men’s semi-final of the team event as Nepal’s Prince Dahal managed to squeeze through the first set 21-18. But Sasindu bounced back immediately to hand Dahal defeat in the second set, claiming it 21-19. This was a wide open game as both shuttlers fought to secure a crucial win, which was eventually claimed by Dahal through a 21-19 third set after a close battle.

From there onwards, it was all about wins for the Lankan shuttlers, soon after skipper Karunaratne took the courts in the semi-final team game against Nepal’s Ratnajeet Tamang, who was given a straight-sets thrashing. Karunaratne took the game 22-20 and 21-9 to reach the final. 

Karunaratne’s impressive win bolstered the remaining shuttlers, as Dias and Goonathilake combined to secure a straight-sets win in the men’s team semi-final against Nepal’s Dipesh Dhami and Ratnajeet Tamang. The Lankan duo had very little trouble in securing the game with set scores of 21-11 and 21-15.

Thilini Hendahewa motivated the Lankan women’s team by recording another 2-0 win against Nepal’s Nagashal Tamang, with set scores of 21-8 and 21-16 in the semi-final. 

Dilmi Dias’ approach in the other semi-final was a straightforward affair against Nepal’s Anumaya Rai, as she took very little time to seal the win with scores of 21-8 and 21-8. 

The day ended for the Lankan shuttlers with another comprehensive win recorded by women’s skipper Ratnasiri, who comfortably defeated Nepal’s Sima Rajbansi 21-12 and 21-8. The finals of the badminton team events will be played from 5.00 p.m. today at Pokhara between Sri Lanka and India. 

Spikers secure bronze medals

Sri Lanka secured the bronze medal when the men’s volleyball team scripted an unlikely win, defeating Bangladesh 3-1 at the Covered Hall in Tripureshwor. The Lankan spikers already looked demoralised after Bangladesh took the upper hand and won the first set 25-23, with a strong crowd backing. 

Even during the initial part of the second set, the Sri Lankans did not live up to their potential but a sudden halt of the game for almost 30 minutes after the court lights failed, and the arrival of the women’s volleyball team who cheered them on, changed their pattern of play. 

They had the Bangladeshi spikers, who looked stronger than the Lankans, searching for answers with shrewd tactics and won the second set 25-20. Sri Lanka took control of the whole game, even cleverly countering the mind games of the Bangladeshis from the third set and snatched the bronze medal after securing the third and fourth sets 25-16 and 25-21 respectively.  The Sri Lankan women added another bronze medal to the tally, following the trend established by their male counterparts. The female spikers recorded a straightforward 25-13, 25-18 and 25-8 win to finish off in style. Sri Lanka held the Maldives to a nil-all draw after a hard-fought battle in the men’s football competition, which was a treat for those who came to witness the game at the Dasarath Stadium.