Youth Athletes in a quandary Only 4 out of 13 qualified athletes listed

Youth athletes were left in a quandary as the Athletics Association (AASL) has decided to send only four athletes for the IAAF World Youth Championship even though 13 youth (under 18) athletes have achieved required qualifying standards.
The Championship will be held from 15th to 19th July at Cali, Colombia.
“For now we have decided to send four medalists of the 1st Asian Youth Athletics championship for the world event” said Saman Kumara, long serving recorder of the Athletics Association.
“But since there are request from others , we are going to sit down at a meeting on Thursday (today) and decide whether we are adding more to the team, and we may select two more from the best performance of the rest except the said four” said Saman Kumara.
Nevertheless, out of 13 there are three 400m runners, three 200m runners and three 400m hurdlers, where top 400m hurdler Dharshan Rajapaksha, who won the silver medal at Asian youth, has been selected for the world event while the rest have been neglected.
Many athletes peaked after the Asian Youth Championship, and athletes such as Gateway sprinter Asiri Wijesekara clocked a personal best of 21.88 seconds in the 200m during the Junior Nationals in late May, which could have well secured a medal for him during Asian Youth. Removing such an athlete from world showpiece would just be a loss to the country.
Bens 400m sprinter Supun Nimansa, who clocked 49.05 seconds in the recently concluded John Tarbat championship, is another who could perform impressively if the standard of competition is superior, such as at the World Youth.
According to the athletes and coaches who have not been selected for the tour, they are even ready to finance their own expenses through their schools and other means if the Association and Sports Ministry are not ready to fund them for the meet, which will be an invaluable experience for their career and once in a lifetime opportunity which would inspire them in their future.
According to analysts, Sri Lanka has one of the best youth teams this year, as they performed remarkably well for their age during competitions, with repeated impressive performances. Athletes expect AASL will follow the same procedure they did in the last two editions of World Youth Championship in 2011 and 2013, where they sent all qualified athletes for the world event.
Selected athletes
Yamani Dulanjali
(400m hurdle-60.92 sec, 200m-24.82 sec and 400m-57.03 sec)
Dammika Ranathunga (High jump- 2.12m)
Chamal Kumarasiri
(Triple jump-15.39m)
Darshana Rajapaksha (400m hurdle-52.87 sec)
Athletes who have reached qualifying standards but not selected
Asiri Wijesekara
(200m-21.88 sec)
Sachith Perera
(200m-22.12 sec)
SM Safran (200m-22.14 sec)
Supun Nimansa
(400m-49.05 sec)
Nidula Jayawardene
(400m-49.05 sec)
Mohammad Hamzan
(400m 49.25 sec )
Uditha Chandrasena
(400m hurdle- 53.04 sec)
Anura Dharshana
(400m hurdle 54.54 sec)
Ushan Thivanka
(High Jump-2.06m)