Veteran Herath to begin campaign at Para Games today

By Susil Premalal

Rio de Janeiro 2016 Bronze Medallist Dinesh Priyantha Herath will begin his campaign when he competes in the Men’s javelin throw F46 finals of the 16th Paralympics Games in Tokyo today.

A total of nine competitors will vie for honours in this event with Herath having the third best performance of 61.84m. India’s Gurjar Sundar with a personal best of 64.11m is on top of the list while his countryman Devendra Jhajharia is in second place with a performance of 63.97m. Incidentally, Jhajharia holds the Paralympic record and the world record for this event following his effort of 63.97m at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Sri Lanka Team captain Dinesh, representing the Gajaba Sports Club, won the Gold Medal at the 2018 Asian Para Games with an effort of 61.84m and also bagged the Silver Medal at the World Paralympic Championships in Dubai, UAE in 2019.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s Samitha Dulan and Sampath Hettiarachchi will compete in the Men’s javelin throw F64 event. Dulan has a personal best of 58.38m and represented the country at the 2019 World Paralympic Championships in 2019 and secured fourth place. 

Meanwhile, Hettiarachchi, with a personal best of 59.32m, represented the country at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro and won a Silver Medal at the 2018 Asian Para Games.

Sri Lanka’s Mahesh Jayakody finished sixth in the rowing PRI Men’s Singles Sculls event with a time of 13.12.33s. Jayakody qualified to compete in the Repechage phase of this event after he finished the first round heat with a time of 11.21.31s. However, he was unable to reach his personal best of 10.30.00s in all three attempts.