Lankan sportsmen continue dismal show in China [November 16 2010]

Sri Lanka continued its dismal performance in sailing, rowing and swimming, finishing amongst the worst performers in the preliminary rounds itself. Lakshan Gunawardena (seventh in men’s mistral race 5), Avishka de Alwis (tenth in men’s dinghy optimist race 6), Krishan Welandagoda (11th in men’s open laser radial) and Suresni Gunaratne (eighth in women’s dinghy optimist) once again failed to justify their presence here in any way.

Sri Lanka’s Sanjeev de Silva and Kanishka Jayaratne made rowing team’s contribution to their country’s dismal performance when they finished last in lightweight men’s doubles sculls repecharge race 2 with a timing of only 6:59.43. The duo were placed third after the first 500m but gradually lost their place by the end. Japan’s Kenta Tadachi and Kenta Kotani combined effectively to win the race in 6:40.17.

Swimmer Heshan Unamboowe was off colour once again, clocking a highly unimpressive 59.00 seconds to finish seventh in his men’s 100m backstroke first round heat 4, won by Japan’s Ryosuke Irie in just 55.57 seconds. Unamboowe was placed 15th out of 29 swimmers who competed in the heats. Junya Koga, who won heat three, had the most impressive timing of them all, clocking 54.45 seconds.

Madhavi Weeratunga was no exception as she finished sixth in women’s 50m freestyle heat 2 to make a first round exit. She clocked a leisured 29.60 seconds against Yayoi Matusumoto’s 25.75 to win the heat. Weeratunga was placed 17th out of 24 swimmers who competed in women’s 50 freestyle heats. Heading the list of medal prospects after the heats was China’s Zhe Si Li (25.41) and hr team mate Yi Tang (25.22).

Rohan Sirisena and Ishara Madurangi’s winning run in table tennis tournament came to an end when they were beaten in their mixed doubles pre-quarter final match by a far superior Chinese combination of Ching Cheng and Chih Chi Wu by three sets to nil in just 13 minutes 8-11, 8-11, 5-11.

At Foshan Gymnasium, Sri Lanka’s Suresh Pattiarachchi could not match the superior technique and powerful left hooks of Meder Mamakeev of Kazakhstan who won on points 7:1. The first round of the bout was equally contested but Mamakeev cut lose and proved his class, collecting three points each in second and third rounds.