GREAT RUN: Sharath Kamal was in brilliant form right through the South Asian Games and finished with four gold medals. — Photo: AP

COLOMBO: Sharath Kamal kept his word. By clinching the singles event in South Asian Games on Wednesday at the expense of his Indian teammate Soumyadeep Roy, he picked up his fourth gold, something he was confident of.

In women's singles final, Mouma Das, despite dropping a game, won over Sri Lankan Deepika Rodrigo 4-1 to clinch gold medal.

Rana's absence felt

In shooting, Jaspal Rana's absence was felt as India missed the gold in the 25m rapid-fire pistol event.

India's Ram Kishan, an out and out rapid-fire shooter, somehow dipped in his performance level, which saw him ending up with silver.

Rana these days concentrates on the centre fire and standard pistol, keeping in view of the Doha Asian Games.

With top shooters in this section like Ronak Pandit and P. Telang concentrating on the World Championships, India went for a gamble and it paid off.

Thanks to Ashok Pandit's participation and Harpreet's score in addition to Ram Kishen's 551, India could accumulate 1629 for the team silver. Pakistan won both the individual and team gold medals.

On the Pakistani winner Maqbool Hussain raising the record to 746.8 points as against Rana's 670.9, the Indian team manager Balashanmugham said that the `final shots' from this Games had been made over 20 shots as against ten earlier and hence the points were bound to be high.

It would be correct to state that Maqbool had set a new mark under the new rules, he said.

It will be an India-Pakistan final in hockey again. On the final day of the league phase, India defeated Bangladesh 4-0, while Pakistan downed host Sri Lanka 9-1. Raghunath scored first off a penalty corner in the third minute.

Roshan Minz made it 2-0 at half time. Sandeep Michael and Dananjaya Mahadik (penalty corner) completed the tally in the second session in the 65th and 70th minutes respectively. India will play Sri Lanka, while Pakistan will take on Nepal in the football semifinals. The line up was finalised on Wednesday at the end of the final league match, which saw Pakistan beating Bhutan 4-0.

In squash, India beat Sri Lanka 2-1 in the women's section round-robin match. Joshna Chinappa and Anwesha Reddy won their matches, while Dipika Pallikal lost. In the men's section, Pakistan beat India 3-0.

In boxing, India won three more golds in boxing, which concluded late on Tuesday night. In all India finished with four golds, four silvers and a bronze.

Spotlight on Anju

Meanwhile, India looks to Anju Bobby George and Sri Lanka to Susanthika Jayasinghe to add glamour to the athletics events of the South Asian Games, which get underway under floodlights on Thursday.

However, there has been bad news for Anju and Sri Lanka's other glamour athlete Damayanthi Darsha. While Anju failed to find a place in the list for the Asian team to take part in the World Championship (the deadline for entries is August 26), Darsha, the three-time Asian games gold medallist, has pulled out following an ankle injury. Her dream to end international career at home with another standout show in the 200m thus ended on a dejected note.

Comeback bid

Anju is yet to get a feel of the soil here after a three-month lay-off following a heel injury on her take-off leg. Then again, this is not the best of times for athletics in this island with rain a daily visitor. The athletics track, circling the football field, is already in a shambles because of the daily pelting and the constant pounding of football boots. In short, it is doubtful whether the conditions are ideal for Anju's comeback bid.

Darsha's absence should provide the opportunity for India's Pinki Paramanik in the 400m. After her twin success in the Asian Grand Prix at Pune and Bangalore, much is expected of this girl. Sri Lanka's athletics queen Susanthika Jayasinghe, however, is raring to sign off in style. An Olympics bronze medallist, Susanthika is a big name here, and she is keen to add a bit more glitter to it.

On the men's side, Anil Kumar is expected to win a sprint double. Sri Lanka has a strong representation in Rohan Pradeep Kumara, the defending champion in the 200m and 400m events.

In the high jump and 1500m too, the host looks stronger. India should show its strength in the throw events.

Pakistan do have good hurdlers, and it may spring a surprise in javelin throw. Little is known of the Bangladesh contingent.

Nonetheless, the tussle should be between India and Sri Lanka.

It was a close fight in 1991 when Colombo hosted the Games last. With 12 gold, nine silver and three bronze medals in Islamabad in 2004, as against India's 15 gold, 12 silver and 14 bronze, Sri Lanka has a chance to outdo the Indians here, for a change.

Vijender in the 75-kg category, Dinesh Kumar in the 81-kg category and Harpreet Singh in 91-kg category were the boxers who took the gold late on Tuesday night.

The results:

Shooting: 25m rapid fire pistol: men: 1. Maqbool Hussain (Pak) 746.8 (NR, prev, 670.9, Jaspal Rana, IND, 2004 (564+182.8); 2. Afsar Khan (Pak) 739.4; 3. Ram Kishan (Ind) 736.3.

Team: 1. Pakistan 1652; 2. India 1629 (Ram Kishan 551, Ahok Pandit 545, Harpreet Singh 533); Sri Lanka 1435.

Table tennis: final: men: Sharath Kamal (Ind) bt Soumyadeep Roy (Ind) 11-4, 11-3, 11-9, 11-9.

Semifinals: Sharath Kamal (Ind) bt Muhammed Asim Quereshi (Pak) 11-3, 11-8, 11-13, 11-9, 11-6; Soumyadeep Roy (Ind) bt Thilina Piyadasa (SL) 11-5, 11-8, 11-9, 12-10.

Women: final: Mouma Das (Ind) bt Deepika Rodrigo (SL) 11-5, 11-6, 8-11, 11-4, 11-6.

Semifinals: Deepika Rodrigo (Sl) bt 11-9, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 3-11, 11-8; Mouma Das (Ind) bt Rahila Kashif (Pak) 11-7, 11-8, 12-10, 11-5.

Boxing (finals): 69 kg: Dur Muhamad (Pak) bt S.I. Kumara (SL) 28-19 on points.

75 kg: Vijender (Ind) bt Allah Baksh (Pak) 34-19 on points.

81kg: Dinesh Kumar (Ind) bt Muhammad Qadir Sultan (Afg) 25-5 on points.

91 kg: Harpreet Singh (Ind) bt Tanveer Shoukat (Pak) 32-12 on points.

91 kg plus: Mirwize Khan (Pak) bt Johnson Varghese (Ind) 42-31 on points.

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