Sri Lanka has brought in sprinter Sujani Buddhika to replace three-time Asian Games gold medallist Damayanthi Darsha in the women's 200m event at the 10th South Asian Games which is scheduled to start at Sugathadasa Outdoor Stadium, Colombo tomorrow (24).
Darsha, who won the first of her many South Asian Games gold medal way back in 1991 as a 16-year-old schoolgirl, has aggravated an old ankle injury.
Darsha’s coach Sunil Gunawardena commented: "Darsha has a swollen ankle. She has taken an injection on medical advise but the swelling on her injured ankle is there. Hence, she will not be able to compete on Thursday."
Sri Lanka's national selectors have decided to include Buddhika as Darsha's replacement for women's 200m. The shock withdrawal of Darsha, just two days before her event, will prevent what would have been a head to head meeting with compatriot Susanthika Jayasinghe after many years.
Darsha has not met the Sydney Olympic medallist at a major international meet for many years and the home fans expected a keen tussle between the two ace Lankan women sprinters at the eight-nation Games. The duo met each other after many years at the 2006 Sri Lanka national championships where Jayasinghe convincingly beat Darsha, who has won four medals in the last three Asian Games since 1994.
Darsha, who competed in women's 100m and 200m at the SA Games since 1991, switched on to women's 400m from 1998. Having won gold medals in both the events at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games, Darsha decided to compete in only 200m event from this year.
Meanwhile, Jayasinghe, the 1997 IAAF World championship women's 200m silver medallist prepared for her dream of a sprint double in her farewell SA Games meet. "The things are going pretty well.
My target is not just gold medals but to do that in style, with two new Games records in women's 100m and 200m," said the most celebrated Lankan athlete.
Asked about the injury she had been nursing last year, Jayasinghe said she had completely overcome that and is ready to face the challenge ahead.
Dinesh Weerawansa for the IAAF