Susanthika wins her second medal in Doha

Sri Lanka's gold medal hopes shattered

Dinesh Weerawansa reporting from Qatar

ASIAN GAMES: Sri Lanka's dream of a gold medal in its third successive Asian Games was shattered as star woman sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe had to be satisfied with only a bronze medal in women's 200m on the penultimate day of the track and field competition of the 15th Asian Games continued at the Khalifa Stadium here today.

Jayasinghe, Sri Lanka's only bet for a gold medal here, had a relatively good start but lacked stamina to fire all cylinders at the end. She returned a timing of 23.42 seconds to finish behind Ruqaya Al Ghasara of Bahrain (23.19) and Guzel Khubbieva (23.30).

Ending a 24-year lean run without s single gold medal since 1974, it was at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games that Sri Lanka broke the hoodoo with Damayanthi Darsha (women's 200m and 400m) and Sugath Tillakaratne (men's 400m) shared three gold medals between then in the Thai capital. With Darsha and Jayasinghe winning a gold each in Busan 2002, Sri Lanka has won five gold medals at the last two Asian Games.

But Sri Lanka failed to maintain that golden era at Asian Games. Running in advantageous lane three, Jayasinghe had a good take off and was in the lead as the eight sprinters took the bend at the first 100m. Al Ghasara was firing behind Jayasinghe and Khubbieva at this stage.

It was after the first 125m that the Bahrain lass, in a fully covered customary kit which had only her face opened, put the top gear for a last dash like a bullet. She fired all cylinders to go pass the 100m gold medallist Khubbieva and silver medallist Jayasinghe to take the first place. It looked like Jayasinghe lacked the staying power and endurance when she needed that the most.

Jayasinghe said her downfall would give an indication on the deteriorating state of Sri Lanka athletics. "Whatever the big talks the athletics officials have been making, the actual fact is that Sri Lanka athletics has gone down drastically. The athletic officials may talk about a second string pool or advanced training but you could well see what theirachievements as administrators are," she explained.

Speaking after her final, Jayasinghe suggested a long-tern plan to resurrect Sri Lanka athletics. "It's not the matter of making some makeshift training when we approach a Games of this nature. What I ask from the athletic officials on behalf of our athletes is to have at least a one-year continuous training program. Give the athletes the facilities they need. It's through that hard way you could earn results," she explained.

Jayasinghe said she had to use different types of track kits during the Asian Games competition. "You may have observed that I used four kinds of track kits in the 100m and 200m heats and finals. That was because our officials were not too concerned about that. It would have been a morale booster if she had official Sri Lanka track kits to run with pride," continued Jayasinghe.

Asked about her failure, Jayasinghe said she is happy with the outcome. "I am not making excuses but making aware the fact that I was bed-ridden for a week due to viral flu Chikun-gunya. That robbed me of valuable training time. When you miss that, its hard to catch up within a couple of weeks. But my courage and determination enabled me to win a silver and a bronze,"said Jayasinghe who made her Asian Games debut with a 200m silver at the 1994 Hiroshima Games.

Jayasinghe, who celebrates her 31st birthday on Sunday, said she would continue to play her role as a sprint merchant for another two years. "Right now I plan my retirement only after competing at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing," she concluded.

Japanese Shingo Suetsugu retained the men's 200m title he won in Busan four years ago. But his timing of 20.60 seconds in winning the men's 200m gold here was slightly slower than what he clocked for the Busan gold - 20.38. However, the 26-year-old lad from Kanagawa was in total control to emerge the easy winner. He finished ahead of China's silver medallist Yaozu Yang (20.71) and compatriot Shinji Takahira (20.81).

Besides Al Ghasara, Bahrain produced another gold medallist in today's events in Yusuf Saad Kamel. He clocked one minute, 45.74 seconds to secure the first place in men's 800m final, ahead of Kuwaiti Mohammed Al Azemi (1:46.25) who settled for the silver. China's Limei Xie had a wind-assisted 14.37m clearance to win the gold medal in women's triple jump.

Sri Lanka high jumpers Tharanga Vinodani and Dulanjalee Ranasinghe were in wilderness. Ranasinghe, the reigning South Asian Games champion, was a poor last, jumping only a 1.60 - that too in her third attempt. South Asian Games silver medallist Vinodani finished a one step above at 11th with 1.65, that too on third attempt.

Sri Lanka's D.A. Inoka secured only the eighth place in women's 5,000m, clocking an unimpressive 17 minutes and 26.58 seconds. China's Fel Xue bagged the gold in 15:40.12. South Asian Games gold medallist Padma Nandani Wijesundara fared no better in finishing fourth out of five competitors who clashed for honors in women's discus throw. She cleared 45.65m. China's Xuejun Ma (61.42) and Aimin Song (55.78) accounted for the gold and silver medals respectively.

Sri Lanka will figure in three of the four 100m and 400m relays scheduled for Tuesday - the final day of the athletic competition. The women's 4 x 100m relay, in which Susanthika Jayasinghe would do the anchor lap for Sri Lanka is scheduled for 4.45 pm local time (7.15 pm SL time). Thirty minutes prior to this, the men's triple jump final, which would feature Sri Lanka's South Asian Games gold medallist Chaminda Sampath Weerasinghe, will commence - at 4.15pm (6.45 pm SL time).

But the best bet for the day from Sri Lanka's point of view would be men's 4 x 400m final, which will now be a straight final scheduled for 7.05 pm (9.35 pm SL time). Prior to this, Sri Lanka's women's 4 x 400m relay team, which include Menaka Wickremasinghe and Chandrika Subhashini, will run in the final at 6.35 p.m (9.05 pm SL time).

South Asian Games champion Kingsley Gunatillake of Sri Lanka will compete in men's javelin throw final from 4.25 pm local time (7.55 pm SL time).

Doha, Monday