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| Friday, 2 July 2004 |
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Fernando a triple crown Dinesh Weerawansa reporting from Philippines Manila, Thursday. - Asian championship double gold medallist Rohan Pradeep Kumara Fernando won a triple crown while Sri Lanka enjoyed mixed fortunes at the third and final leg of the Asian Grand Prix 2004 Series worked off at the Rizal Memorial Track & Field Stadium, Malate yesterday. Fernando, having won the first two legs in Thailand and Sri Lanka, once again emerged victorious in men's 400m to register his third successive win in the series to complete a triple crown. But the biggest disappointment was Olympic medallist Susanthika Jayasinghe who was pushed to the third place in women's 200m, though she registered her season's best timing. In fact, Sri Lanka's male sprinters enjoyed top honours while their female counterparts failed to live up to expectations. Joining Fernando to win another sprint event was Sri Lankan soldier Prasanna Amarasekera in men's 200m while their men's 4 x 400m relay team finished second. On the other hand, Jayasinghe and Darsha painted an unimpressive picture. Darsha was placed fifth in women's 400m. Rohan Pradeep Kumara Fernando became the only Sri Lankan to win all three events in the series. Having won in Songkla, Thailand (45.83 seconds) and Colombo, Sri Lanka (45.78), Fernando emerged victorious in the Philippine capital here too. But the men's 400m did not have the pace it was expected to generate, probably because if came merely an hour after men's 4 x 400m relay and the sprinters were somewhat tired. Fernando clocked his worst timing of the series - 46.22 seconds, but that was good enough to finish way ahead of his closest rival K.M. Binu of India (46.98). "It was nice to win again and remain unbeaten in the series. But the race did not generate the speed that we were expecting. Nevertheless, I was able to win comfortably with that timing," said Fernando who pocketed USD 6,000 (over Rs. 600,000) for his efforts in the Asian Grand Prix Series. Amarasekera, who was placed second with a timing of 21.17 seconds in the Colombo Grand Prix last Sunday, was in impressive from to clock a season's best 20.98 seconds in men's 200m, merely 0.07 seconds short of his career best mark. "It was a good race and everything went fine for me," said Amarasekera who was the only competitor to run under 21 seconds. Following the success of male sprinters Fernando and Amarasekera was middle distance runner Chaminda Wijekoon, who finished third in men's 1,500m clocking three minutes and 55.35 seconds. Jayasinghe (23.24) was finally beaten by Uzbekistan girls after surviving a photo finish triumph in Colombo. Pererelova Lyubov (23.08) and Khubbieva Guzel (23.16) secured first two places respectively to qualify for the Athens Olympics but the Lankan lass once again failed to meet the target of 23.17 seconds needed. However, Jayasinghe has shown a gradual improvement after he return from a leg injury to clock 23.48 (South Asian Games in Islamabad), 23.42 (Thai Grand Prix), 23.38 (Colombo Grand Prix) and now 23.24 - her season's best, in Manila. It was a disappointing to see reigning Asian Games champion Darsha being pushed to fifth place in women's 400m with a timing of only 53.96. A little known Indian Chitra K. Soman clocked 52.84 seconds. In the relays, Sri Lanka's 400m relay team, struggling to assure their place within the last 16 in the World and qualify for the Athens Olympic Games, accounted for their worst timing in the series - three minutes and 05.81 seconds. However, the race went on a slow phase as the winners India too managed just 3:5.03. Sri Lanka made a strategic change in the lap order but that did not pay off. Prasanna Amarasekera ran the first lap and was together with India's Bhupinder Singh. But Ranga Wimalawansa's dash in the second lap was not his brilliant best as Sri Lanka gradually lost control after Rohitha Pushpakumara's third lap. Fernando made a desperate attempt to reduce the Indian lead in the anchor lap but by then it was too late. Sri Lanka's men's 4 x 100m relay, entered for the Manila Grand Prix in the eleventh hour, failed to justify their presence here. They clocked a poor looking 40.73 seconds to finish fourth, behind Saudi Arabia (40.13), Thailand (40.26) and India (40.44). ###### Asian Grand Prix 2004 Results Results: Men: 100m: 1. Gennadiy Chernovol (Kazakhstan) 10.36 sec, 2. Yahya H.I. Habeeb (Saudi Arabia) 10.43, 3. Sompote Suwonrangsri (Thailand) 10.54. 200m.: 1. Prasanna Amarasekara (Sri Lanka) 20.98sec, 2. Sitichai Suwonprateep (Thailand) 21.12, 3. Chen Lisha (China) 21.14 400m: 1. Rohan Pradeep Kumara (Sri Lanka) 46.22 sec, 2. K.M. Binu (India) 46.98, 3. Ernie Candelario (Philippines) 47.58 1,500 m: 1. Salah F.E. Al Tayeb (Saudi Arabia) 3 mts & 51.96sec, 2. Sajad Moradi (Iran) 3:53.82, 3. Chaminda Wijekoon 3:55.35 4X100m Relay: 1. Saudi Arabia 40.13sec, 2. Thailand 40.26, 3. India 40.44 4X400m relay: 1. India 3 mts & 05.03sec, 2. Sri Lanka 3:05.81, 3. Philippines 3:10.69 Shot Putt: 1. Navpreet Singh (India) 18.83m, 2. Ahamed Gholoum (Kuwait) 18.57, 3. Sergey Rubtsov (Kazakhstan) 17.64 High Jump: 1. Cui Kai (China) 2.18m, 2. Wang Zhouzhou (China) 2.18, 3. Naoyuki Daigo (Japan) 2.15 Triple jump: 1. Salem MosaadM. Al Molad (Saudi Arabia) 16.59m, 2. Rasheed Abdulla R. Al Rumani (Saudi Arabia) 16.47, 3. Mohammed Hazzory (Syria)16.38 Discuss Throw: 1. Abbas Saimimi (Iran) 64.98m, 2. Wu Tao (China) 61.09, 3. Nuermaimati Tulake (China) 58.78 Women: 100 m: 1. Perepelova Lyubov (Uzbekistan) 11.17sec, 2. Khubbieva Guzel (Uzbekistan) 11.30, 3. Juthamas ThawonCharoen (Thailand) 11.47. 200 m.: 1. Perepelova Lyubov (Uzbekistan) 23.08sec, 2. Khubbieva Guzel (Uzbekistan) 23.16, Susanthika Jayasinghe (Sri Lanka) 23.24 400m: 1. Chitra K. Soman (India) 52.84sec, 2. Svetlana Bodristkaya (Kazakhstan) 53.47, 3. Rajwinder Kaur (India) 53.53 1,500 m: 1. Tatiana Borisova (Kyrgyztan) 4mts & 20.30sec, 2. Svetlana Lukasheva Kazakstan) 4:22.59, Librada Tamson (Philippines) 5:31.39. 100m Hurdles: 1. Feng Yun (China) 13.14sec, 2. Su Yiping (China) 13.32, Trecia Roberts (Thailand) 13.68. 4X100 m relay: 1. Thailand 44.37sec, 2. China 44.84, 3. Indonesia 46.45 4X400m relay: 1. India 3mts & 31.94sec, 2. Kazakhstan 3:49.51, 3. Philipppines 4:19.22 Discuss Throw: 1. Li Yanfeng (China) 63.46m, 2. Xu Shaoyang (China) 60.84, 3. Neelam J. Singh (India) 58.91 Long Jump: 1. Liang Shuyan (China) 6.71 m., 2, Juravieva Anastasiya (Uzbekistan) 6.55, 3. Lerma Elmira Gabito (Philippines) 6.51 Shot Putt: Li Meiji (China) 18.00 m, 2. Zhang Guirong (Singapore) 17.81, 3. Juthaporn Krasaeyan (Thailand) 17.13.
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