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DINESH WEERAWANSA reporting from South Korea

BUSAN, Wednesday - Former Asian Championship double gold medallist Rohan Pradeep Kumara gave Sri Lanka its third medal at the 14th Asian Games while star woman sprinter warmed up for another gold medal on day 11 of the 14th Asian Games here today.

Running in the men's 400m final at the Asiad Main Sajik Stadium here this morning, Pradeep Kumara did not make Sri Lanka feel the absence of last Asian Games' gold medallist Sugath Tillakaratne, who made a first round exit yesterday due to a leg injury.

It was Tillakaratne who won the bronze medal at the 2002 Asian Championship behind Al Shammari Fawzi of Kuwait (gold) and Al Bishi Hamdan of Saudi Arabia (bronze).

Here in Busan Asian Games, the order was identical, except for Rohan Pradeep Kumara taking the bronze, instead of Tillakaratne.

Kuwaiti Al Shammari Fawzi took the lead in only the last five metres to take the men's 400m gold with a timing of 44.93 seconds, which equalled the Games record held by Qatar's Ibrahim Ismail Uffah in Hiroshima, 1994.

Albishi Hamdan of Saudi Arabia, who led the race until the first 390m, was beaten at the end and had to settle for the silver medal, returning a timing of 44.95, one hundredth of a second slower than the gold medallist Fawzi who lost two Hamdan twice in the qualifying round here.

Rohan Pradeep Kumara clocked a season's best 45.67 seconds to win the bronze medal, his first at the Asian Games. It was Sri Lanka's third medal at the Busan Games after Jayasinghe's gold in women's 100m yesterday and Anura Rohana's silver in golf.

Pradeep Kumara, running in lane three, followed Hamdan, who has been leading in almost the entire race, except for the finishing line.

Though the Lankan sprinter did not run up to half way mark well, he did a superb last 200m to win the bronze medal easily, ahead of fourth-placed Japanese Masayoki Okusako (46.11).

"I am glad that I could win the bronze. We have mainly been focussing on the men's 4 x 400m gold. We are looking forward to win the relay," he said. Pradeep Kumara, double gold medallist at 2000 Asian Athletic Championships in Jakarta, said he will do the first lap for Sri Lanka in 400m relay, scheduled for later this week. Olympic medallist Jayasinghe had a relaxed 23.59 second in finishing second in women's 200m heat one to qualify for Thursday's final. Kazakhstan's Viktoriya Kovyreva beat Jayasinghe by one hundredth of a second.

But even before the race, Jayasinghe said she is only running to qualify and will not go an all out. Indian Saraswati Saha won the second women's 200m semi-final heat, clocking 23.51 seconds.

But Jayasinghe complained of a leg injury after the race, though it is unlikely to keep her out of Thursday's women's 200m final. "I had this slight injury for the last couple of days.

There is a light pain but that will not stop me from running. I will do my all out to win the 200m gold for my country tomorrow," a determined Lankan lass said after her race.

Jayasinghe was in two minds during her 200m semi-final heat, accelerating and reducing her speed on a couple of occasions but it was obvious she only wanted a qualifying run.

"I will run despite the injury. But don't expect another Asian Games record as I cannot take a risk of an all-out attempt for the record because of the women's 4 x 100m relay," she said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, in Colombo, telephoned Sri Lankan gold medallist Jayasinghe here last night to congratulate her and wish all success in the 200m final. "I will come to Temple Trees to see you with two gold medals from Korea," Jayasinghe has told the Lankan premier during the telephone conversation. It is understood that many Ministers and MPs witnessed Jayasinghe's record breaking run during a break at yesterday's Parliament sessions.

Sri Lanka could look forward to two possible gold medals on Thursday (10) with Jayasinghe (women's 200m final at 11.20 am - 8.20 am SL time) and Damayanthi Darsha (women's 400m final at 3.30 pm - 12.30 pm SL time) in action. Jayasinghe will run in lane five, flanked by the Kazakhstani giant killer Viktoria Kovyreva (4) and China's Xiaoli Ni (6). Indian young sensation, Sarasvati Saha, who won today's second semi-final has the best timing of 23.51 amongst all semi finalists.

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