13th South Asian Games Athletes add three more golds to Sri Lanka’s tally

4x100m Mens 1st 

Participants of Girls' and Boys' 4x100m 

Nilani (C) 5,000m

By Naushad Amit in Nepal

Sri Lanka added three more gold medals in athletics to their name, as the 4x100m Men’s relay team broke an event record of 15 years on the sixth day of the 13th South Asian Games in Kathmandu, Nepal yesterday. Sri Lanka bagged medals in the 4x100m Men’s and Women’s relays and in the Women’s 5,000m, where Nilani Ratnayake secured her second gold medal.

The Sri Lanka Men’s 4x100m Relay team bagged the gold medal with a record time of 39.14 seconds, to break the record of 39.91 seconds set by India in 1999. Ace sprinter Himasha Eshan took the lead in the first quarter and gave his teammates the comfort of expanding the lead before Yuoun Abeykoon finished off well ahead of the Indian team. India claimed the silver medal after clocking 39.97 seconds while Pakistan bagged the bronze medal clocking 40.50 seconds.

Ratnayake, a last minute entry to the athletic squad, proved her aptitude yet again after proving her critics wrong three days earlier by winning the Women’s 1,500m gold medal. She added her second gold medal yesterday after an epic run of 16 minutes and 55.18 seconds, to finish ahead of India’s Parul Chaudhary, who claimed the silver medal with a timing of 16 minutes and 57.49 seconds. The bronze medal went to India’s Priti Lamba, who clocked 17 minutes and 09.32 seconds.

The Sri Lanka Women’s 4x100m Relay team claimed the gold medal well ahead of India and Pakistan. Sri Lanka was represented by Lakshika Sungandi, Sadeepa Henderson, Sarangi de Silva, and Amasha de Silva. They clocked 44.89 seconds to beat India, who won the silver with a timing of 45.36 seconds and Pakistan, who won the bronze after clocking 46.74 seconds. 

Lakshika had already won a gold medal in the Women’s 100m hurdles and a bronze in the Women’s 100m while Amasha de Silva claimed a silver medal in the Women’s 100m. Sarangi claimed a gold medal in the Women’s long jump event.  Kaushalya Madhushani fell short by six milliseconds in a photo-finish as she had to settle with the silver medal in the Women’s 400m Hurdles. Her timing was 1 minute and 00.40 seconds while Pakistan’s Najma Parveen took the gold medal with a timing of 1 minute and 00.35 seconds. India’s Veerpal Kaur bagged the bronze after finishing the race at 1 minute and 01.38 seconds. 

In field events, Sri Lanka won a silver and bronze medal. Tharika Kumudumali cleared 14.35 metres in the Women’s shot put to win the silver medal, as she become second best to India’s Abha Khatua, who bagged the gold with a throw of 15.32 metres. India’s Kachnar Chaudha won the bronze medal with a clearance of 13.66 seconds. Samith Madusanka won the bronze medal in the Men’s shot put event behind two Indians, after throwing 15.55 metres in his final attempt. Tajinderpal Singh became the new record holder after achieving 20.03 metres, to win the gold medal and the new record from countryman Bahadur Singh, who set the record by throwing 19.15 metres in 1999. Om Prakash threw 17.31 metres to win the silver medal.

Pix by Sameera Peiris