Sri Lanka men’s relay team shattered the 4x100 metres relay record by clocking 39.14 seconds to erase the 15-year-old record held by India at the ongoing 13th South Asian Games at Dasarath Stadium yesterday.On a day that Sri Lanka grabbed eight gold medals, three from the track and field events, the Lankan relay team comprising Himasa Eashan, Chanuka Sandeep, Vinoj Suranjaya and Yupun Priyadashana knocked off 0.77 secs from India’s SAG record of 39.91 secs set in 2004.India finished in second place with a timing of 39.97secs and Pakistan claimed the bronze with a time of 40.50secs.
The Lankan women too were equal to the task taking the gold in the 4x100 metres in a time of 44.89 seconds. The Lankan runners included Lakshika Sugandi, Sarangi Silva, Sadeepa Henderson and Amasha de Silva. India finished second with a time of 45.36secs and Pakistan were third clocking 46.74secs.Sri Lanka’s other gold medals came in Golf (2), Badminton (2) and swimming (1).India continued to lead the medals tally winning 81 golds with Nepal second with 41 golds and Sri Lanka third with 23 golds.
Athletics
Nilani Ratnayake produced her best and won her second gold in the Women’s 5000m. Ratnayake finished well ahead of the rest of the competitors, with a timing of 16:55.18 second. She won the gold in the 1500m a couple of days ago. Kaushalya Madushani completed the 400m Hurdles event with a timing of 1:00.40 to clinch the silver.In the men’s and women’s shot putt events Samith Fernando took the bronze (15.55m) and Tharika Fernando won the silver with a throw of 14.35m.
Golf
Grace Yatawara won the first gold medal in golf in the individual event. The second gold came in the team event of the women’s category. Sri Lanka also won two bronze medals with Thushani Selvaratnam winning the Individual event and the men’s the team event.
Badminton
In a all Sri Lankan final of the women’s doubles Thilini Hendehewa and Kavindi Sirimannage beat Achini Nimeshika and Upuli Samanthika Weerasinghe 2-1 to take the gold. Similarly in the men’s doubles Dias Vidanalage and Tharindu Dulles beat Krishna Prasad Garaga and Dhruv Kapila to win the second gold for Sri Lanka in the event.
Swimming
Mathews Abeysinghe won his fourth medal when he won the men’s 50 metre freestyle event clocking 22.16 seconds. Akalanka Pieiris won the bronze medal in 22.94 seconds and then went onto to grab a silver with a new National Record in the 200m Backstroke with a time of 2:01.55 bettering a 7-year-old record. Kavindra Nugawela (200m Backstroke), Ganga Seneviratne (200m Backstroke), Kiran Jayasinghe (100m Breaststroke) and Ramudi Samarakoon (100m Breaststroke) all won bronze medals in their respective events.Earlier in the day Dilanka Shehan claimed a silver in the 1500m event.
Cricket
Sri Lanka Women’s team defeated hosts Nepal by 41 runs in their last group stage game to book a spot in the final to be played at Pokhara Stadium, Pokhara. Skipper Harshitha Madavi won the toss and elected to bat first and had to settle for a total of 118/7 in 20 overs with Lihini Apsara scoring a valuable 37 in 27 balls, Janadi Anali 35 and Sathjya Sandeepani 22. In reply Nepal was restricted to 77/9 in 20 overs with Sachini Nisansala (3/16) and Sathya Sandeepani (2/5) claiming the wickets. Sri Lanka Women will meet Bangladesh Women in the final for the gold.
Archery
Sajeev de Silva created a National Record scoring 660/720 and is sitting in 3rd place in the Individual Ranking. He will compete in the Individual, Team and Mixed Team events tomorrow.
Weightlifting
Chathuranga Lakmal won the silver medal in 67kg weight class while Chinthana Geethal Vithanage secured the bronze medal in the 81kg weight class
Cycling
Dinesha Dilrukshi won a silver and Udeshi Kumarasinghe and Avishka Madonza a bronze each.
Fencing
Roshan Arachchige won a bronze in sabre and Ali Saeedudden a bronze in epee.
Medals Tally
Gold Silver Bronze Total
India 81 59 25 165
Nepal 41 27 48 116
Sri Lanka 23 42 69 134
Pakistan 19 25 29 73
Bangladesh 4 18 51 73
Maldives 1 0 2 3
Bhutan 0 0 6 6
