Ranchi, October 25: The Indian athletics contingent made a commanding start to their campaign at the fourth South Asian Athletics Championships in Ranchi's Birsa Munda (Morabadi) Stadium on Friday (October
24), bagging five gold medals and setting two new meet records on the opening day.
While Indian athletes ruled the track and field events across middle-distance, throwing, and relay categories, Sri Lanka's sprinters stole the show in the 100m dashes, sweeping gold in both men's and women's events with record-breaking performances.
India's Golden Start in Ranchi
India's first gold of the day came through Prince Kumar, who powered to victory in the men's 5,000m with a time of 14:22.17s, narrowly edging Sri Lanka's Vicknaraj Vakshan. Soon after, Sanjana Singh gave the home crowd another reason to cheer, claiming the women's 5,000m gold in 15:38.70s, smashing the previous meet record of 16:08.09 set in 2008. Seema (15:40.55s) completed a 1-2 finish for India.
The field events saw a standout performance from Samardeep Gill, who not only clinched gold in the men's shot put but also obliterated the meet record with a massive throw of 19.59m - surpassing Satyendra Kumar Singh's 17.71m mark from 2008. His compatriot Ravi Kumar (17.95m) took silver, ensuring another strong Indian showing.
India's dominance continued in the women's shot put, where Yogita (15.85m) and Shiksha (15.83m) secured gold and silver respectively.
The host nation capped off the evening with an emphatic win in the mixed 4x400m relay, as the team of Rashid, Neeru Pathak, Mohammed Ashfaq, and Olimba Steffi clocked 3:20.13s to edge out Sri Lanka by a whisker.
Sri Lanka Sprint to Glory
The most electrifying moments of the day came in the 100m finals, dominated by Sri Lankan sprinters. In the men's 100m, reigning champion Chamod Yodasinghge clocked 10.30s, setting a new meet record and eclipsing the 1998 mark of 10.35s set by Chintake De Soyza. India's Pranav Gurav (10.32s) and Harsh Raut (10.42s) bagged silver and bronze.
The women's 100m was equally thrilling as Mohammad Yamick of Sri Lanka stormed to gold in 11.53s, another meet record, improving on D Priyadashani's 11.74s set in 2008. Teammate Dewa Thanuji A (11.72s) and India's Sudeshna S (11.78s) followed.
In the triple jump, Sri Lanka's Herath Mudiyans N added another record-breaking gold with 13.36m, beating the previous best of 13.01m by India's Lekha Thomas (1998). India's Poorva Sawant earned silver with 13.03m.
Day-One Medal Summary (India):
🥇 Men's 5,000m: Prince Kumar
🥇 Women's 5,000m: Sanjana Singh (Meet Record)
🥇 Men's Shot Put: Samardeep Gill (Meet Record)
🥇 Women's Shot Put: Yogita
🥇 Mixed 4x400m Relay: India (Rashid, Neeru Pathak, Mohammed Ashfaq, Olimba Steffi)
India's solid start has given them early momentum in the competition, though Sri Lanka's sprinting brilliance underlined the growing competitiveness of South Asian athletics. With more finals lined up over the weekend, the stage is set for an intense battle between the two traditional powerhouses.
