Tharushi qualifies for 800m semi-finals

Tharushi Dissanayake qualified for the semi-final of the Women's 800m on the second day of the World Junior Athletics Championships yesterday. 

Running in the second heat, Dissanayake finished fourth, but was bumped up a place when Cuba's Daily Cooper Gaspar, the runner-up, was disqualified for a lane infringement. 

It meant that Dissanayake claimed the final automatic qualifier spot, even though her time of 2:10.70secs was the slowest of the 16 that moved into the next round.

Shanika Lakshani, the other Sri Lankan in the Women's 800m, finished fifth in the first heat with a time of 2:20.37secs and was 22nd out of the 25 athletes who were classified. 

Sprinter Medhani Jayamanne will run in the Women's 200m heats today at 1:37 p.m. Sri Lanka time, while Dissanayake's 800m semi-final will be at 6:50 p.m.