South Asian Athletics C'ships: India overtakes Sri Lanka in gold medal race on day 2

India’s gold medal charge continued on the second day of the fourth South Asian Athletics Championships at Birsa Munda (Morabadi) Stadium on Saturday, with the hosts winning seven golds to take their overall tally to 12.

Sri Lanka remained in second place with eight gold medals.

Indian women dominated in multiple events, with Neeru Pathak winning 400m, Sanjana Singh claiming 1500m, Nandhini K taking the 100m hurdles, and Seema triumphing in discus throw. The men’s section saw Arjun Waskale (1500m), Manav R (110m hurdles), and Kirpal Singh (discus throw) clinch gold.

India, however, suffered defeats in both men’s and women’s 4x100m relay events, with Sri Lanka setting meet records. Bangladesh’s men opened their medal account with a bronze in the 4x100m relay, finishing behind Sri Lanka and India.

Teenage sensation Sanjana Singh extended her remarkable run, adding a second gold in the 1500m after her 5,000m triumph on the opening day. “It was a good learning experience for me to compete with better runners,” she said.

On his international debut, Manav R set a meet record in the men’s 110m hurdles, clocking 13.78s, surpassing the previous record of 14.21s set by Sri Lanka’s M Perera in 1998. Nandhini K also broke the women’s 100m hurdles meet record.

Results

Men

400m: Hewa Kumarage K (Sri Lanka) 46.21s, Mohammed Ashfaq (India) 46.56s, Kuruwitage Kalhara (Sri Lanka) 46.81s

110m hurdles: Manav R (India) 13.78s (meet record. previous record of 14.21s was set by M Perera in 1998), Ranatungage Roshan (Sri Lanka) 13.90s, Krishik M (India) 14.01s

High jump: Samaraweera A (Sri Lanka) 2.17m (meet record. previous record Harishankar Roy (India) 2.15m), Rohit (India) 2.15m, Aadarsh Ram (India) 2.09m

Discus throw: Kirpal Singh (India) 56.22m, Nirbhay Singh (India) 56.00m, WDM Milant Sampat (Sri Lanka) 49.35m

1500m: Arjun Waskale (India) 3:54.58s, Gallage Rusiru C (Sri Lanka) 3:55.12s, Rojideen Mohamathu (Sri Lanka) 3:55.95s

4x100m relay: Sri Lanka 39.99s (meet record. previous record of 40.58s by Sri Lanka in 1998), India 40.65s, Bangladesh 40.94s

Women

400m: Neeru Pathak (India) 53.15s, Olimba Steffi (India) 54.13s, Mendis Balapuwa (Sri Lanka) 54.18s

1500m: Sanjana Singh (India) 4:25.36s, WKL Arachch N (Sri Lanka) 4:25.52s, Kajal Kanwade (India) 4:26.26s

100m hurdles: Nandhini K (India) 13.56s (meet record. previous record S Fonseka 13.84s in 1998), Moumita Mondal (India) 13.81s, Wijeweera Vitha 13.98s

Discus throw: Seema (India) 55.14m, Nidhi (India) 52.18m, Asgiriye Gedara V (Sri Lanka) 43.01m

4x100m relay: Sri Lanka 44.70s (meet record. previous record of 45.65s by Sri Lanka in 1998), India 44.93s, Maldives 47.79s