Indian women take 4x400m gold in Colombo (© Dinesh Weerawansa)
Sri Lanka produced the fastest man and woman of the 10th South Asian Games on day three of the track and field competition at Sugathadasa Outdoor Stadium, Colombo on Saturday (26).
Umanga Surendra and Susanthika Jayasinghe produced their best performances of this season to win the men's and women's 100m titles respectively on the penultimate day of the track and field competition of the eight-nation Games.
Though Jayasinghe, the Sydney Olympic Games 200m bronze medallist, was expected to win her third gold, the men’s dash win was a surprise gift for 23-year-old Surendra, who had never dreamt of taking a gold medal home last night. But it was the most memorable day for the Lankan sailor.
He bagged the men's 100m gold in 10.52 seconds, pushing aside the SAG record holder, Anil Kumar of India, in an exciting thriller. The much fancied Indian was leading most of the way before Surendra rocketed past in a decisive last 30m dash. It was a mere one hundredth of a second which separated the two at the end as Kumar clocked 10.53 to take the silver. His team mate Basak Jagdish returned a timing of 10:61 to take the bronze.
Meanwhile, Jayasinghe lived up to expectations to win her third gold medal of the 10th South Asian Games, as did her team mate Rohan Pradeep Kumara.
Following her success in women's 200m and 4x100m on successive days, Jayasinghe won the women's 100m dash in 11.33 seconds. Settling for the silver behind Jayasinghe was compatriot Jani Chathurangani Silva in 11:76, while Pakistan's Sanaf Siddiqi bagged the bronze in 12:07.
Rohan Pradeep Kumara anchored home the Sri Lankans to a men’s 4x400m victory, and Sri Lankan also took wins in the men’s Triple Jump and High Jump.
But the women's 4 x 400m gold went to India as they came first in 3:38.01 seconds, followed by Sri Lanka (3:39.48) and Pakistan (3:44.81). India also bagged gold medals in men's and women's 800m events, while Nepal and Pakistan too did well to pocket a gold each respectively in the men’s Discus Throw and 3000m Steeplechase.
Dinesh Weerawansa for the IAAF
Results:
Men:
100m:
1. Umanga Surendra (SRI) 10:52
2. Anil Kumar (IND) 10:53
3. Basak Jagdish (IND) 10:61
800m:
1. Francis Sagairaj (IND) 1:50:23
2. S. Abeynayaka (SRI) 1:50:30
3. W. Weliwita (SRI) 1:50:36
3000m Steeple Chase:
1. Rajendra Bhawdari (NEP) 8:51:76
2. Om Prakash (IND) 9:00:99
3. Ram Bhadur (IND) 9:02:15
Triple Jump:
1. Chaminda Sampath (SRI) 16:26
2. Khan Waseem (PAK) 15:85
3. Mathew Binu (IND) 15:82
Discus Throw:
1. Basharat Ali (PAK) 55:10
2. Amrit Pal Singh (IND) 52:89
3. Harpreet Singh (IND) 52:69
High Jump:
1. Manjula Pushpakuamara (SRI) 2:19
2. Benedict Stanley (IND) 2:19
3. Nalin Priyantha (SRI) 2:16
4 x 400m relay:
1. Sri Lanka 3:09:25
2. India 3:10:47
3. Pakistan 3:11:35
Women:
100m:
1. Susanthika Jayasinghe (SRI) 11.33
2. Jani Chaturangi Silva (SRI) 11.76
3. Sadaf Siddiqui (PAK) 12:07
800m:
1. Pinki Parmanik (IND) 2:03:81
2. S. Shanthi (IND) 2:04:77
3. Bushra Parveen (PAK) 2:08:04
4 x 400m relay:
1. India 3:38:01
2. Sri Lanka 3:39:48
3. Pakistan 3:44:81
