ISLAMABAD, April 4: Pakistan stamped their seal of supremacy on the weightlifting competition of SAF Games on Sunday as Sajjad Amin Malik and Alam Din Kakar wound up what was a fruitful tournament for the host nation, by winning two gold medals.
Sajjad, competing in his first International event, sent a trio of Games records tumbling on way to gold in the upto 105kgs category at Aabpara Community Centre, improving upon the previous mark of 325 set by India's Manjit Singh at Kathmandu in 1999 with total of 340kgs.
In so doing he also broke the snatch and clean & jerk records of the same man with 155 and 185kgs respectively. Gur Mindhersingh of India finished behind Sajjad for the silver totalling 325 and Bangladesh's Pradip Chandra picked up a bronze with 262.5kgs.
Pakistan's other gold came through Alam in the over 105kgs category, as he totalled 347.5kgs finishing well ahead of Indian Vipon Kumar, who lifted 322.5 kgs. Sri Lankan Kavinda's effort of 272.5 was good enough for a bronze.
Alam, for whom it was his first international competition, also erased the clean and jerk record of Indian Dalvir Singh, established at the last SAF Games, with 195kgs. Thanks to the weightlifters, Pakistan were able to capture five gold and three silver for a total of eight while India had three gold and four silver medals.
ATHLETICS: Sri Lankan runners Anuradha Cooray and Ajith Bandara claimed the marathon honours finishing one-two.
The race that began from Jinnah Stadium in the heart of Pakistan Sports Complex and culminated at the same point, saw Anuradha clock 2:16:38 in a field of eight. His compatriot Ajith was home in 2:19:29 for the silver with the bronze going to Nepal's Arjun Bahadur Basnet whose time was 2:21:23.
SHOOTING: The Indians were again too hot to handle as they have been this far, winning an impressive 22 of the 24 finals contested.
The centre fire pistol gold, silver and bronze were swept by their marksmen Jaspal Rana, Ashok Pandit and Ronak Pandit at the new shooting range of the Pakistan Sports Complex.
Jaspal had a total of 582 followed by Ashok's 578 and Ronak who scored 574 as the trio asserted their complete supremacy in the event. The team gold also went to the same Indian players who had a score of 1734 with the silver being won by Pakistan's Irshad Ali, Zahid Ali and Kashif Riaz. They accumulated 1691 leaving the Sri Lankan team of Gamini Walgama, DMWB Dasanayaka and GN Karunathailaka in third place with 1643.
India also won gold in the women's 50m sports rifle event through Rajkumari who collected a score of 589, Sri Lankan Pushpamali finishing close on her heels at 588 for the silver while Indian Meena's 587 earned her the bronze.
Rajkumari, Meena and Sindhu were crowned the champions in the team event, putting on 1751 points as home trio of Nazish Khan, Urooj Fatima and Nadia Saeed took second place and Sri Lankans Pushpamali, Mallini and Dimuthu came in third for the bronze.
SWIMMING: The Indian women picked up from where their male counterparts had left off, sweeping all the five finals contested with two SAF Games marks falling by the wayside.
Reshma Millet set the 50m freestyle record straight by wiping out her sister Nisha's mark of 1999, clocking 00:28.47, Sri Lankan Menaka de Silva finished two seconds behind at 00:28.49. Chathuri Abeyakoon, her teammate took the bronze in a time of 00:29.48.
Sumi Cyriac set the other record in the 100m backstroke event, her time of 01:10.16 cancelling out Sri Lankan Deepika Chanmugam's 1991 effort of 01:11.07. Pakistanis Kiran Khalid Zaman Khan and Rubab Raza captured the silver and bronze.
The opening day of the women's swim events yielded three silver and two bronze medals for the hosts. The home team of Sana, Mahira, Ayesha and Kiran finished behind India's Sivaranjani, Vijayamma, Richa and Resham for the silver in 4x200m relay in 10:04.25. The gold-winners clocked 09:12.68 while the Sri Lankans grabbed a bronze in a time of 10:26.39.
India achieved more success through Bhavna Sharma in the 100m backstroke event, her time of 01:20.94 was better than her countrywoman's 01:21.63. Bangladesh's Doli Akhter who was home in 01:22.65 took the bronze.
Pakistani girls did well in the 400m freestyle, Mahira and Ayesha clinching a silver and bronze behind India's Sivaranjani who timed 04:36.08. Mahira's silver was achieved in a time of 05:14.70 while Ayesha clocked 05:17.76.
SQUASH: At the Roshan Khan courts, Pakistan thumped Nepal 3-0 in just 18 minutes to advance to Tuesday's team event final where they will play India.
First Mansoor Zaman strolled past Hira Bahadur Thapa 9-2, 9-0, 9-0 and then Farrukh Zaman knocked out Suresh Gurung 9-3, 9-3, 9-4 before Majid Khan completed the rout with 9-1, 9-1, 9-1 win over Satya Shrestha.
On the women's side, Pakistan scored a 2-1 win over Sri Lanka and will now face India in the final of the team competition. Maria Toor Pakay defeated Khushani Savindrika Daluwatta 9-1, 9-1, 9-5 followed by Aliya Sarfraz who was stretched to five games by Tehani Nayanthara Guruge before winning 9-6, 2-9, 0-9, 9-5, 9-4.
Nirsasha Amithri Guruge pulled one back for the Sri Lankans beating Muqaddas Ashraf 10-8, 9-5, 9-4 after being on court for 26 minutes.