It is very early in the javelin season, but South Asia continues to be where the biggest throws are getting hurled. While the last two Olympic golds were claimed by Indian Neeraj Chopra and Pakistani Arshad Nadeem, the third cricketing powerhouse is catching up. The month of March saw Sri Lankans Rumesh Pathiranage (85.41m) and Sumedha Ranasinghe (85.78m) take up the third and second slots respectively behind American season-topper Curtis Thompson (age 29, threw 87.76m at Austin Texas on March 28). Rumesh Tharanga Pathiranage briefly took the lead in early season, striking consistency at Perth Classic on training tour in Australia. He had a 82.66 at Strive Program A earlier, but he helped haul up the ambitions of 34-year-old Sumedha Ranasinghe, who regained the Sri Lankan national record eight days later. According to X (formerly Twitter) account @thesidelinesLK, Rumesh, aged 23, was the first Sri Lankan to break the 85m barrier in men's javelin from his country. The Sidelines wrote, "At the age of 16, he was clocking over 130kph and even won second place at Sri Lanka's Fastest cricket bowling competition for upcoming fast bowlers just behind one of the current pace sensations who is to play the IPL, but coach Tony Prasanna saw potential in him with the javelin." Rumesh's career best was the 85.45m to take gold at the Asian Throwing Championship. Rumesh, as per The Sidelines, played cricket for Palee National School, Horana and was vice captain of the Kaluthara district team. Alongside cricket, he pursued athletics, dabbling at javelin and discus. At 16, in a pace talent hunt, Rumesh clocked 134 kph in the U18 category and was second only behind Eshan Malinga, who is with SRH in IPL now. However coach Tony persuaded Rumesh who was performing well at Junior John Tarbet meet in javelin to focus exclusively on the T&F event and move to St Peter's College from where he became U20 record holder and went to World Juniors. As per The Selection, Rumesh's 85.45m at the Asian Throws for gold, broken the national record held by Sumedha Ranasinghe, the seasoned pro ten years his senior. However Rumesh fell 5 cm short of qualifying for the Olympics. He went on a training tour to Australia and currently sits third on the early season charts. Military man Sumedha Ranasinghe, on the other hand, went to the Rio Olympics, but has retaken the national record from Rumesh with a 85.78m at the Mahinda Rajapaksa stadium, Diyagama, on March 9. He is a 6-time national champion, but at 34 has seen a resurgence pushed no doubt by Rumesh throwing 85.41 at Western Australia Athletics Stadium, Perth on March 1. As India is set to welcome top names for the Neeraj Chopra Classic at Panchkula in May, the subcontinent is throbbing with javelin talent from all three major cricket nations. Indians Sachin Yadav and Rohit Yadav are 4th and 16th respectively in early season charts, with big names yet to start competing. Sachin, 25, dropped a 84.39m in Dehradun on 12 February, and currently sits 4th on the charts.
