Pinki completes SAF Games doubles,India reach Nelson's mark in Gold

Colombo, Aug 26 (UNI) Pinki Pramanik completed a personal double and picked up her second Gold of the meet in the 800m of the 10th SAF Games at the Sugathadasa Stadium here this evening.

Meanwhile, India achieved the dual distinctions of 100 plus Gold and 200 plus medals in the meet. Its medal tally now stands at 220 -- including 111 Gold, 67 Silver and 42 Bronze.

After winning the 400m Gold last night, Pinki, one of the five Indians to find a place in the Asian team for next month's World Cup athletics championship in Athens, added the 800m Gold to her kitty this evening.

The Railway runner, a pre-tournament favourite after winning the Asian Grand Prix legs in Bangkok, Bangalore and Pune, clocked 2:03.81 to finish first ahead of fellow Indian S Shanthi (2:04.77) and Pakistani Bushra Parveen (2:08.04).

Pinki, however, could not better her personal best of 2:03.23 and Shiny Wilson's 1995 SAF record of 1:59.85 also remained unscathed.

Meanwhile, Francis Sagairaj fetched India's second athletics Gold of the day by winning the men's 800m final. The Indian clocked 1:50.23 to edge out the Sri Lankan duo of A Abeynayaka (1:50.30) and WGAK Weliwita (1:50.36). The other Indian in the fray, Sanjeesh Joseph, finished fourth at 1:50.59.

The Gold, however, eluded male Indian athletes both in Discus throw and 3000m steeplechase.

In discus, Amritpal Singh (52.89m) finished second best, behind Pakistani Basharat Ali (55.10m) and ahead of fellow Indian Harpreet Singh (52.26m), who bagged the Bronze.

In steeplechase, Om Prakash (9:00.99) also settled for the Silver, behind Nepal's Rajendra Bhawadri (8:51.76), while another Indian, Rama Bahadur Subba, won the Bronze with 9:02.15.

In women's 100m, star Sri Lankan Susanthika Jayasinghe (11.33s) lived up to the expectations and won the Gold even though she couldn't break team mate Damayanthi Darsha's 11.19s record.

India's Deepti Jose (12.14s) finished just out side the medal bracket, at fourth position.

In men's 100m, the Indian duo of Anil Kumar (10.53s) missed the Gold by a whisker as Sri Lankan R Dus Surendra (10.52s) proved marginally better. Fellow Indian Jagdish Basak (10.61s) returned with the Bronze in the event.

India also got the 4x400m women relay Gold, besides the Silver in the same event for the men. And, in men's high jump, Benedict Sterley (2.19m) was pipped to the post by Lankan WP Manjula Puspakumara and the Indian had to be satisfied with the Silver.

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