The Indian athletes completely left their rivals out in the cold, dominating the third day’s action of the athletics events of the 12th South Asian Games at the Indira Gandhi stadium, Sarasujai, on Thursday.
It is hard to recall such a domineering performance by Indian athletes on the international stage in recent times, though it should be said that the action did not often rise to the expected standards.
But, then, that was almost forgotten as the home team athletes kept winning event after event, and eventually wound up with 11 gold medals out of the 12 decided on another hazy evening.
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And, what’s more, India had a fair share of the silver medals too, as it finished 1-2 in seven finals besides winning a bronze.
The afternoon was also marked by three new Games marks, again all accounted for by Indian athletes who missed out only on the men’s 200m title, which was won by Sri Lankan M.V. Suranjaya de Silva, who left Saaid Hassan (Maldives) and Liaqat Ali (Pakistan) behind.
Starting strongly, Suranjaya came through the curve ahead and maintained his lead as he stopped the clock at 21.00s.
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The Maldivian, winner of the 100m silver on the opening day, did try his best to close in but ended up second in 21.15s.
Results-wise, the most surprising outcome of the day in favour of the Indians was the 1-2 in women’s 200m, clinched by Srabani Nanda and Dutee Chand as the duo outran favourite Rumeshikha Rathnayaka of Sri Lanka, who had bagged the 100m gold.
Nanda timed 23.91s for the gold, while Chand and Rathnayaka finished in 24.14s and 24.17s.
Returning to the venue where he had become the first Indian to cross the 17-metre mark, Renjith Maheswary easily won his event, with a new Games record to boot. True, he was nowhere near his best, but the 30-year-old’s second-round effort of 16.45m was easily good enough to erase the existing mark of 16.26m.
There was an upset of sorts as Suman Devi threw the javelin to a personal best distance of 59.45m, surpassed the existing record of 52.38m, while pushing favourite and National record holder Annu Rani to the second spot.
The contest between the two athletes from Uttar Pradesh was settled in the second round, and thereafter there was a definite downturn in the fortunes of Annu Rani, who failed to improve upon her first effort of 57.13m.
L. Surya added the 10,000m title to her earlier 5,000m triumph.
The 20-year-old from Tamil Nadu put to shade the existing record of 34:27.13 by finishing the 25-lapper in an impressive 32:39.86.
The results:
Men: 200m: 1. M.V. Suranjaya de Silva (SL) 21.00s, 2. Saaid Hassan (Mal) 21.15s, 3. Liaqat Ali (Pak) 21.53s. 1,500m: 1. Ajay Kumar Saroj (Ind) 3:53.46, 2. Sanjeewa Lakmal (SL) 3:54.16, 3. Rahul (Ind) 3:55.07. 400m hurdles: 1. A. Dharun (Ind) 50.54s, 2. Jithin Paul (Ind) 50.57s, 3. Mahboob Ali (Pak) 52.04s. Triple jump: 1. Renjith Maheswary (Ind) 16.45m [NGR; OR: 16.26m], 2. J. Surendhar (Ind) 15.89m, 3. Muhammad Afzal (Pak) 15.76m. Shot-put: 1. Om Prakash Singh (Ind) 18.45m, 2. Jasdeep Singh (Ind) 17.56m, 3. Muhammad Waseem (Pak) 16.28m. 4x400m relay: 1. India 3:06.74, 2. Sri Lanka 3:07.59, 3. Pakistan 3:14.82.
Women: 200m: 1. Srabani Nanda (Ind) 23:91s, 2. Dutee Chand (Ind) 24.14s, 3. Rumeshikha Rathnayaka (SL) 24.17s. 1,500m: 1. P.U. Chithra (Ind) 4:25.59, 2. G.T.A. Abeyrathna (SL) 4:25.75, 3. U.K.N. Ratnayaka (SL) 4:26.70. 10,000m: 1. L. Surya (Ind) 32:39.86 [NGR; OR: 34:27.13], 2. Swati Gadhave (Ind) 33:57.09, 3. S.A. Lama Hewage (SL) 36.11.39. 400m hurdles: 1. Jauna Murmu (Ind) 57.69s, 2. A.C. Ashwini Akkunji (Ind) 58.92s, 3. Kawshalya (SL) 59.87s. Javelin: 1. Suman Devi (Ind) 59.45m [NGR; OR: 52.38m], 2. Annu Rani (Ind) 57.13m, 3. B.L. Nadeeka Lakmali (SL) 54.82m. 4x400m relay: 1. India, 3:35.44, 2. Sri Lanka, 3:38.89, 3. Bangladesh, 3:53.27.