Indian teenager Sanjana Singh won her second gold medal by securing the women’s 1500m title at the SAAF Senior Championships. India dominated the event, clinching seven out of the eleven gold medals on offer
during the second and penultimate day on Saturday.
The 18-year-old Sanjana clocked 4 minutes and 25.36 seconds to outpace Sri Lanka’s W K L Arachch Nimali, who finished in 4:25.52, for the 1500m gold. Previously, Sanjana had claimed the 5000m gold on Friday, the opening day of the championships.
Indian competitor Kajal Kanwade finished third with a time of 4:26.21.
“It was a good learning experience for me to compete with better runners,” said Sanjana, whose father is a Sub Inspector in Haryana Police.
Sri Lanka secured victories in both the men’s and women’s 4x100m relay events, leaving India to settle for silver medals in both. The island nation also won the men’s and women’s individual 100m gold medals on Friday.
Similar to Friday, Indian and Sri Lankan athletes contested all eleven events on Saturday. India earned seven gold medals, while Sri Lanka took four.
India led the medal tally with 12 gold, 14 silver, and 7 bronze medals with one day remaining in the championships. Sri Lanka collected 8 gold, 6 silver, and 9 bronze medals, while Nepal was third with 3 bronze medals.
Sri Lanka’s men’s 4x100m team set a meet record with a time of 39.99 seconds, ahead of India’s 40.65 seconds. The Indian team comprised Prathik Maharana, J Singh Dhillon, Harsh Raut, and Pranav Gurav.
The Indian women’s 4x100m relay team, including Tamanna, M V Jilna, Sudeshna Shivankar, and Sakshi Chavan, clocked 44.93 seconds to finish second behind Sri Lanka’s 44.70 seconds.
In the men’s 1500m, Arjun Waskale won the gold with a time of 3 minutes and 54.58 seconds. Fellow Indian Sunil Dawar was initially awarded third place but was later disqualified under Technical Rule 17.1.2 for jostling or obstruction. Sri Lanka’s Gallage Rusiru Chath (3:55.12) and Rojideen Mohamathu (3:55.95) secured the silver and bronze medals respectively.
R Manav claimed the men’s 110m hurdles gold with a meet record time of 13.78 seconds, while Sri Lanka’s Ranatungage Roshan took the silver with 13.90 seconds. Another Indian, M Krishik, won the bronze with 14.01 seconds.
In the women’s 100m hurdles, India achieved a 1-2 finish with K Nandhini capturing the gold with a meet record time of 13.56 seconds and Moumita Mondal taking silver with 13.81 seconds. Sri Lanka’s Wijeweera Vitha finished third with 13.98 seconds.
The women’s discus throw also saw a 1-2 finish for India, with Seema Kaliramna taking gold with a throw of 55.14m and Nidhi earning silver with 52.18m. Sri Lanka’s Asgiriye Gedara Vinod won the bronze with 43.01m.
Kirpal Singh and Nirbhay Singh secured the men’s discus gold and silver respectively with distances of 56.22m and 56.00m, while Sri Lanka’s W D M Milant Sampat earned bronze with a distance of 49.35m.
Sri Lanka’s Samaraweera Aratha won the men’s high jump gold with a height of 2.17m, while India’s Rohit (2.15m) and Aadarsh Ram (2.09m) took silver and bronze respectively.
India and Sri Lanka shared victories in the quarter-mile events. Neeru Pathak and Olimba Steffi of India finished first and second, clocking times of 53.15 seconds and 54.13 seconds respectively. Sri Lanka’s Mendis Balapuwa Sayu was third with 54.18 seconds.
Sri Lanka’s Hewa Kumarage Kalin claimed the men’s 400m gold, clocking 46.21 seconds. India’s Mohammed Ashfaq finished second with a time of 46.56 seconds.
(With Inputs From PTI)
