Wins 10 of SL`s 23 swimming medals

The Island, Thursday 24th August, 2006
Darling Mayumi completes swimming hat-trick
by Rex Clementine
She was taking the pool just
hour after the 100 metre
L’s 23 one
S
f
o
Freestyle
event and there were
0
Wins 1 g medals doubts as to whether she
in
would be up for it in her pet event;
swimm but the youngster didn’t disappoint the
Swimming sensation Mayumi Raheem
completed a hat trick in the pool yesterday when she won all three
breaststroke events of the 10th South
Asian Games at the Sugathadasa
Swimming Pool. Raheem had become
the darling of the local crowd winning the 100
and 200 metre breaststroke events on previous
days and all eyes yesterday were on the 15year-old who was competing in the 50 metre
breaststroke event at 6p.m to complete the
grand triple.
After giving Sri Lanka the edge over India in the 400
medley relay Mayumi Raheem (right) encourages teammate Miniruwani Samarakoon, doing the third lap.
Madhavi Dharmadasa, who did the first lap is also in the
picture. Sri Lanka won silver in the event.
- Pic by Nishan S. Priyantha.
massive local crowd.
After a close finish in the longer distance
breaststroke events, another close battle was
expected yesterday, but Mayumi was too good
for her rivals as she finished the event with a
new Sri Lankan record clocking 34:97 seconds.
Bangladesh’s Doli Akther and Mahfuza
Khatun finished second and third respectively.
The swimming events that got underway on
Saturday concluded yesterday with Mayumi
carrying home 10 of the 23 medals Sri Lanka
won. Apart from three golds, she also won four
silver and three bronze medals to finish off a
successful week for a 15-year-old.
Mayumi will leave home next week to continue her training aiming this year’s Asian
Games in Qatar.
Trinity College’s Heshan Unamboowe,
another teenager, won a bronze medal in the
200 metre Freestyle event after a close race.
Unamboowe was placed fifth half way
through the event but fought Mahboob Ali of
Pakistan to get home with a medal.
Unamboowe was also a member of the
quartet that won the silver medal in the 400
metre Medley Relay. The hosts actually finished third, but after Bangladesh were disqualified, the Sri Lankans were awarded the
silver. Pakistan, who had finished fourth,
were also disqualified and the bronze medal
was awarded to Nepal, their only medal in
swimming events.
Miniruwani Samarakoon also won Sri
Lanka a bronze medal when she finished third
in the 50 metre Butterfly event
behind Lekha Kamath of
India and Sana Wahid of
Pakistan.
Sri Lanka won silver in the
Mayumi Raheem reacts after swimming to gold in the women's 50 metre Breaststroke at the South Asian Games swimming
championship, yesterday. (AP)
women’s 400 metre Medley Relay
when the quartet of Madhavi
Dharmadasa, Mayumi Raheem,
Miniruwani
Samarakoon
and
Chaturi Abeykoon -- all school girls -finished behind India.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, won their
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122
20
24
29
73
15
31
44
90
04
05
16
25
01
09
21
31
00
01
06
07
00
00
04
04
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first gold medal in the Games when
Ali Shajahan beat India’s Sandeep
Sejwal in the 50 metre Breaststroke.
India won seven gold and four silver medals yesterday compared to Sri
Lanka’s solitary gold, three silver
and two bronze.
The South Asian swimming giants
completed pool events with a massive
tally of 32 gold medals 18 silver and
four bronze while Sri Lanka finished
with 5 gold, 18 silver and four bronze
medals.
Medals table as at 10.30 p.m. yesterday (23)
Sri Lanka women’s Karate Kata team members, Durga Harshani Illeperuma, Lakmali
Ranasinghe, A.B.K Chamindi and V.A Kathriarachchi celebrate their gold medal victory
yesterday. – Pic. Kamal Wanniarachchi.
Karatekas boost Sri Lanka’s medal tally See page 11 for the story
Published by Upali Newspapers Ltd, 223, Bloemendhal Road, Colombo 13. and Printed at 195/187, High Level Road, Homagama on Thursday 24th August, 2006