Long-distance queen Sunita Rani bags another record

Sunita Rani completed the sweep in long distance with a comfortable win in 5000m, clocking 3:36.02s, another record to boot.

Earlier in the day, GG Pramilla set the tone for India’s dominance with a gold in women’s long jump. Her best jump of 6.37m erased the SAF mark of 6.31m set by Pakistan’s Shabana Akhtar at 1995 Madras Games. India’s Anju Markose took silver with a jump of 6.22m.

Another impressive win for the Indian women came in the 4×400 relay as the combination of MK Asha, Rosa Kutty, Jincy Philips and KM Beenamol clocked 3:32.35s to take gold, setting a new SAF record.The earlier record also stood in India’s name. The Indian men had a mixed day. Golds came in expected events, javelin, 10,000m and men’s 4x100m relay. However, the Indians failed to get any medal in men’s 400m hurdles and the brilliance of Sri Lanka’s Ruwan Pradeepa Kumar denied them gold in men’s 4x400m relay.

Jagdish Bishnoi hurled the javelin to a distance of 78.01m, a SAF record. K Shankar of India ran a good tactical race to win the men’s 10,000m in 30:53.55. He stayed behind Nepal’s Pudashaini and Sri Lanka’s AI Cooray for 23 laps, and chose the penultimate lap to surge ahead.

In the relays, the 4×100 team of Thiruganadurai, Vikram Singh, Anand Menezes and Anil Kumar won in 40.33s. India took 22 golds as compared to Sri Lanka’s 11 in the athletics competition.

Sixth gold for Nisha

Nisha Millet scooped up her sixth gold medal with a record-breaking effort as the disqualification of the women’s 4×100 metre medley team allowed India just four of the six gold medals at stake while two recordstumbled on the fourth day of the swimming competition. The women’s quartet of Reshma Millet, Sumy Cyriac, Richa Mishra and Chitra Krishna were denied a medal.

Nisha, who had already picked up five gold medals, grabbing first place in 200 backstroke with a record-breaking time of 2:31.96. Nisha eclipsed Sri Lanka’s Dipika Chanmugham’s record (2:52.10).

Sebastian Xavier, figuring in just one event, became the fastest swimmer by winning the 50 metres freestyle. In women’s 200m butterfly, Richa Mishra won her second gold medal (2:34.94). The fourth gold came in men’s 4×100 medley relay. TA Sujith, Senthil Kumar, Deepak Singh and Elvis Ali Hazarika made up the quartet.

Paramjit, Umesh win

Paramjit Sharma (85 kg) and Umesh Singh (94kg) won in their respective weight class to win both the gold medals at stake in weightlifting. Paramjit and Umesh both lifted a combined weight of 315 kg (140 snatch + 175 clean).

TT teams in final

The Indian table tennis players kept themselves on course forteam gold medals. The men thrashed Bangladesh 3-0 while the women’s team carved out a facile 3-0 win against hosts Nepal. Both will meet Pakistan in the final.

Shooters claim 4 golds

Shooters had to be content with four of the eight gold medals on the second day of shooting. Samresh Jung (free pistol) and Chetannarendra Deshmukh (air rifle) were the major contributors to the gold collection. Jung and Deshmukh won the individual and team golds respectively.

ATHLETICS

400 Hurdles: Asoka Jayasuriya (Lanka) 50.02 (New Games Record); Allag Ditta (Pak); Harijan Ratnayake (Lanka). 4×100 relay: India (Thiruganadurai, Vikram Singh, Anand Menezes, Anil Kumar) 40.33; Pakistan, Bangladesh. 4×400 Relay: Sri Lanka (S Mendis, V Ratnakumar, A Arunashantha, R Pradeep Kumar) 3:5.28; India, Pakistan. 10,000: K Shankar (Ind) 30:53.55; AI Cooray (Lanka); YB Pudashani (Nep). Javelin: Jagdish Kumar (Ind) 78.01; (NGR); Ramandeep Singh (Ind), K Ahmad Khan(Nep).

Women 4×100 Relay: India (Jayalakshmi, Vinita Tripathi, Saraswati Dey, PT Usha) 44.64; (NGR) Sri Lanka, Nepal. 4×400 Relay: India (MK Asha, Rosa Kutty, Jincy Philip, KM Beenamol) 3:32.35; (NGR); Sri Lanka, Nepal. 5000: Sunita Rani (Ind) 15:56.46; (NGR); SN Jayaseena (Lanka), Molly Biju (Ind). Long jump: GG Pramila (Ind) 6.37 (NGM); Anju Markose (Ind), NK Chandrasena (Lanka) 6.04.

SWIMMING

Men 100 Butterfly: Salman Masud (Pak) 59.02; Anthony Francis (Lanka); Elvis Ali Hazarika (Ind). 50 Freestyle: Sebastian Xavier (Ind) 24.53; Hazarika (Ind); Monirul Islam (Ban). 4×100 Medley relay: India (TA Sujith, Senthil Kumar, Deepak Singh, Hazarika) 4:4.47 (NGR); Sri Lanka, Bangladesh.

Women 200 Backstroke: Nisha Millet (Ind) 2:31.96; (NGR); Radheesha Dulawatte (Lanka); Kamola Akhtar (Ban). 200 Butterfly: Richa Mishra (Ind) 2:34.94; Natasha Harshini (Lanka); Sobura Khaton (Ban). 4×100 Medley relay: Nepal 5:42.34; Bangladesh,Maldives.

TABLE TENNIS

Team championships (Men, SF): India bt Bangladesh 3-0 (S Raman bt Al-Mahbub Kahndoker 21-12, 2-11; Chetan Baboor bt Mosaddequl Huq 21-17, 17-21, 21-17; Arjun Dutta bt Al-Mostafa Kahndoker 21-15, 21-11)

Women: India bt Nepal 3-0 (NR Indu bt Geeta Thapa 21-9, 21-7; Poulami Ghatak bt Sandhya Shakya 21-7, 21-7; Anindita Chakraborty bt Basukala Muna 21-18, 21-10).