Inglorious nightmare

Sri Lanka experienced a day of nightmare as their athletes failed to make an impact on another disappointing day at the Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia on Tuesday (28).

Three promising athletes Indunil Herath, Gayanthika Abeyrathna and Rumeshika Ratnayake all struggled to compete against some of the best in the region as Sri Lanka kept searching for their first medal at the Games.

In fact, Herath had to settle with the last place in the Men’s 800 metres final after he clocked a disappointing 1:51.36 seconds.

The event was won by 28-year-old Manjit Singh of India who ran his personal best time of one minute and 46.15 seconds to win his maiden major international medal.

India’s Jinson Johnson, who smashed legendary Sriram Singh’s 42-year-old 800m National record in June during the National Inter-State Athletics Championships, finished second in 1:46.35s.

Abdalla Abubaker of Qatar was placed third with a time of 1:46.38s.

Meanwhile, Abeyrathna had to settle with a sixth-place finish in the Women’s 800m final after she returned a time of 2:05.50s.

China’s Chunyu Wang won the event with a time of 2:01.80s followed by Margarita Mukasheva of Kazakhstan (2:02.40s) and Manal Elbahraoui of Bahrain (2:02.6s).

In addition, Ratnayake failed to qualify for the final of the Women’s 200m after she was pushed to the sixth place in the first semi-final with a time of 24.05s.

Earlier, she put up a pleasing performance to qualify for the semi-finals by finishing third in heat three with a time of 23.79s.

Hockey

Meanwhile, Indian Men rounded off their hockey league engagements with a 20-0 thrashing of Sri Lanka in Pool ‘A’ to finish undefeated ahead of their semi-final clash against Malaysia.

Akashdeep Singh scored six goals while Rupinder Pal Singh, Harmanpreet Singh and Mandeep Singh scored three apiece against the minnows.

The team took some time to get into the groove, managing only seven goals in the first half, before stepping on the gas to pump in at will post break.

Sailing

In the Men’s Laser Standard Event, Sri Lanka’s Nishantha Weerathunga finished in 15th place in race nine with a total of 134 points. (Agencies)