Jumper Sarangi and wushite Tharindu win gold

Gold medalist Sarangi Silva (C) and Anjani Pulwansa (L)

Kumar Shanmugeshwaran won a silver in the Men’s 10,000 m

Vinoj Suranjaya de Silva

Vinoj Suranjaya de Silva claimed a silver in the Men's 200 m.jpg

By Naushad Amit in Nepal

Long jumper Sarangi Silva and wushu practitioner Tharindu Namal won gold medals for Sri Lanka on the fourth day of the 13th South Asian Games yesterday, which is in progress in Nepal. 

Long jumper Sarangi Silva with her gold medal

Lanka Ariyadasa

Besides the two gold medals, Sri Lanka claimed four more silver medals – three from athletics and one from wushu – and a bronze medal in athletics as the games progresses towards its fifth day today.

Gold medallist Silva jumped 6.38 metres to record her personal best en route to winning the Women’s Long Jump event, in which Sri Lanka had a double podium finish at the Dasharath Rangasala in Kathmandu. Silva was originally not on the starting list but was substituted at the eleventh hour for Vidusha Lakshani, who had decided to focus only on the Women’s Triple Jump event. Silva’s personal best jump had been 6.15 metres but her jump yesterday could not see her clinch the national record, which is 6.43 m, a difference of a mere 0.06 metres.

Finishing behind Silva was her compatriot Anjani Pulwansa, who cleared 6.11 metres to claim the silver medal, while India claimed the bronze medal. Kumar Shanmugeshwaran won the first medal of the day for Sri Lanka with a silver in the Men’s 10,000 m, after a close battle with Indian runner Suresh Kumar, who won the gold medal. Shanmugeshwar clocked 30:49.20 but closely battled the Indian, who went on to claim the gold medal after clocking 29:33.61. Nepal’s Deepak Adhikari won the bronze medal, finishing close behind the Sri Lankan in 30:50.06.  

Vinoj Suranjaya de Silva made amends for his failure from yesterday in the Men’s 100 m final on Tuesday, finding his form to claim a silver medal in the Men’s 200 m final. He clocked 21.19 seconds, but failed to beat Pakistan’s Uzair Rehman, who clocked 21.15 seconds to win the gold medal. Saaid Hussain, who earned the title of South Asia’s Fastest Man, failed to impress and claimed the bronze medal in a time of 21.22 seconds.  Ishara Madurangi achieved a 41.29 m throw in the Women’s Discus Throw event to secure the bronze medal. Other competitors who turned out for Sri Lanka failed to break the top three but managed to achieve personal best timings. 

Gold and silver from Taekwondo

Sri Lanka’s Tharindu Namal won a gold medal in the Men’s Taolu Taiju Jain in the wushu competition of the 13th South Asian Games at Lagankhel in Kathmandu yesterday. Namal’s gold medal came after accumulating 18.90 points to stand above India’s Gyandash Singh and Nepal’s Hari Prasad Gole. 

Singh claimed the silver medal with 18.74 points while Gole collected 18.49 points to win the bronze medal.  In the Women’s Chan Quan Thaulo, P.H.G. Wathsala bagged a silver medal after securing 8.55 points, as Nepal’s Sushmita Tamang claimed the gold medal with 9.44 points. 

The bronze medal went to Nur Baher Begum of Bangladesh, who finished with 7.53 points. 

India beat Sri Lanka in Kabaddi

India beat Sri Lanka 53-14 in Women’s Kabaddi, which took place at the APF Hall in Halchowk. India dominated the entire game, leading from start to finish, holding the hapless Lankan lasses to a low score.

Pix by Sameera Peiris