COLOMBO, Aug 10: Star Sri Lankan sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe regaled the home crowd as she won the 100 metres dash in style on the second day of the Asian athletic championships here Saturday.

Jayasinghe was a clear winner at 11.29 seconds, just one-hundredths of a second off the meet record held by Cui Danfeng of China since 1995.

Chinese Qin Wangping (11.56) and Uzbek Lyubov Perepelove (11.60) fought it out hard for second and third places.

“I’ve been in fine form and am confident of winning the 200 metres too,” said Susanthika, who missed the 100 metres bronze at the Commonwealth Games at Manchester in England by one-hundredths of a second.

“I’m competing against myself in this meet,” said Jayasinghe after she took a victory lap carrying the Sri Lankan flag. “I hope to keep up the good form till the Asian Games (at Busan, South Korea).”

In the men’s 100 metres, Jamal al-Safaar of Saudi Arabia retained his title clocking 10.43 seconds.

His compatriot Salem al-Yami, the 100 metres winner at the West Asian Games in Kuwait earlier this year, finished third as Chernovol Gennadly of Kazakhstan pipped him to the post.

The women’s high jump saw a good standard as Tatiana Efimenko of Kyrghystan won with a clearance of 1.92 metres, just two centimetres outside the meet record of 1.94.

India’s Bobby Aloysius, who had lost out on a bronze in the Commonwealth Games at Manchester on back count some days back, this time won the silver when the same rule was applied here.

Aloysius was tied at 1.84 metres with Marina Korzhova of Kazakhstan, but was awarded the silver as she had cleared the height on her first attempt to Korzhova’s third.

Earlier in the day, top Japanese thrower Koji Murofushi erased the men’s hammer throw meet mark.

Murofushi, a World championship silver-medallist, came up with an effort of 80.45 metres on his third throw to better the previous mark of 76.67 in the name of Andrey Abduvaliev of Uzbekistan since 1991.

Japan made it a 1-2 in the event with Doi Hiroaki (70.27) taking the silver and they also won the top two spots in the 20 km walk through Eiichi Yoshizawa and Toshihito Fujinohara.

Murofushi winning the hammer throw with such ease was not a surprise as he is currently ranked second in the world and holds the continental record of 83.47, the best effort in the world last year.

“The distance could have been more had it not been for the wind,” said Murofushi, son of five-time Asian hammer throw champion Shigenobu Morufoshi. “My aim is to win golds at the Olympics and World championship.”

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