Gamage secures Bronze at World Para Meet Sri Lanka win Silver at Asian Relays

The Sri Lanka Mixed Relay Team on the podium

Action from the Mixed Relay event 

By Susil Premalal 

Sri Lanka’s Indika Gamage put up a fine performance to win a Bronze Medal on the opening day of the World Para Athletic Championships in Kobe, Japan yesterday.
Gamage secured third place while competing in the T44 Men’s 100m event with a performance of 11.83s. 
South Africa’s M. Mhlongo won the Gold Medal in this event with a season best time of 11.34s while E. Bernard from Malaysia took the Silver Medal with a personal best time of 11.77s. 
Earlier, Gamage qualified for the final after winning heat 1 with a time of 11.75s ahead of Nour Alsana of Saudi Arabia (11.94s) and Huang Ruihua of China (12.06s).
Sri Lanka are fielding a strong contingent for the World Para Athletic Championships spearheaded by season campaigners Dinesh Herath and Samitha Dulan, who have already qualified to participate at the Paris Paralympics in August.

Asian Relays 
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka won the Silver Medal in the 4X400m Mixed event at the inaugural Asian Relay Championships, which began at the National Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand yesterday.    
The Sri Lanka Relay Team composed of Aruna Dharshana, Kalinga Kumarage, Nadeesha Ramanayake and Sayuri Mendis finished second with a time of 3:17.00s. 
India clinched the Gold Medal with a time of 3:14.12s while Vietnam secured the Bronze Medal with a time of 3:18.45s.
Qatar, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, India and Sri Lanka participated in the Mixed Relay event.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka will compete in the 4X100m Men’s and Women’s events and 4X400m Men’s and Women’s events today.