While placing M.D. Lahiru’s 400 metre sprint and Akshana Maralanda’s 100 metre dash as the top performances, national selectors said there could be many reasons for the low performances at the Junior Asian Games trials held at the Sugathadasa Stadium on Tuesday.

Many failed to produce their best at the trails to select athletes for the Junior Asian Games. And Saman Kumara the statistician and national selector said that Joseph Vaz College athlete Lahiru’s 50.77 second feat in the 400 metres and Mahamaya Girls’ School sprinter Maralanda’s 100 metre dash (12.61) were the highest performances in otherwise a dull day’s track and field events.

"Maralanda’s 100 metre sprint and Lahiru’s 400 metre performances were the highest performances. Others didn’t perform to their expectations," said Saman Kumara speaking to ‘The Island’ after the trials.

"There could be many reasons for the drop of standards. They took part after the off season and some may have been just starting their training. And another reason might have been the lack mismanagement of some coaches. Some coaches fielded their athletes in many events without giving prominence to the event they were good at," Saman Kumara explained.

"Another vital factor was the harsh weather conditions. The weather was not conducive for a good day’s performance. The intense heat and the humidity were exhausting the youngsters," said Kumara.

Apart from the performances of Lahiru and Maralanda, the only other feats that have come close to the notice were the performances of high jumpers. "High jumpers were the only others who came close to a cetain standard," Kumara said.

M.M.M. Dissanayake of Rajasinghe Central College and Madushani Siriwardana of Central College, Galenbindunuwewa cleared 1.95 metres and 1.64 metres respectively in the high jump events.

"Performances in the long jump were disappointing and so were the other field events. We expected boys to clear a distance of over 13 metres at least. But there was only one jumper just cleared the 12 metres. It was a huge drop. At the Under-17 age group we use to clear the 13 metre barrier 30 years ago," said Kumara comparing the performances with his feats in his heyday.