400m Silver and bronze for Sri Lanka at Asian Junior meet

By Susil Premalal

Tharushi Karunarathna of A. Rathnayaka Central College, Walala and Jayeshi Uttara of Holy Cross College,  Gampaha  won silver and bronze medals in the  400m Girls  event on day one of the 20th Asian   Junior  U-20  Athletic Championships in  Yecheon,  South Korea yesterday.

 Tharushi clocked 53.70 seconds to win the silver medal while Jayeshi clocked 55.51 to win the bronze medal.  This is the first time since 1994 two girl Sri Lanka  junior athletes won two medals in one event at the Asian Junior Athletic  Championships.

 Tharushi (53.99) and Jayeshi (55.63) qualified to the finals from heat two.

 The gold medal was won by India’s Rezoana Mallick with a winning time of 53.31.

Meanwhile, Dinara  Rashmi Bandara of  Gateway College, Colombo won heat two of the 100m girls in a time of 12.04. The 100m final will be held today.  Tharushi Karunarathna is expected to win another medal when she competes in the 800m girls final today.