Ranchi: Sri Lanka’s star javelin thrower Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage lived up to the expectations as he easily won gold with a meet record effort even as India topped the final medal table in the SAAF Senior Championships
here on Sunday.
India and Sri Lanka shared the spoils with eight gold each on the third and concluding day at the Birsa Munda Stadium.
Fielding a second-string team, India ended the championships on top with 58 medals (20 gold, 20 silver, 18 bronze). Sri Lanka finished second with 40 medals (16 gold, 14 silver, 10 bronze).
The championships ended on a pulsating note with the Indian women’s 4x400m relay quartet picking up the gold in the last event with the last-leg runner Neeru Pathak overtaking her Sri Lankan rival at the final stretch after the home team was trailing Sri Lanka for most part of the race.
The 22-year-old Pathirage, who had finished seventh in the World Championships in September, dominated the four-man field with his third-round throw of 84.29m to clinch the gold and better the previous meet record of 75.37m set in the 1998 edition in Colombo.
Compatriot Sumedha Ranasinghe took the silver with an effort of 81.62m. The SAAF Championships have made a return after 17 years.