SPEED IS SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka's sprinter Shehan Saearuwan Abeypitia leaves the pack in his wake to win the men's 100m sprint gold of the 11th South Asian Games in 10.46 seconds at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. Photo: Star

Shehan Saearuwan Abeypitia, the 20-year-old boy from Colombo, beat his more experienced and illustrious competitors to become South Asia's fastest man while a 23-year-old unknown quantity from Karachi named Naseem Hameed turned the table upside down to become the fastest woman in the 11th South Asian Games yesterday.

The baby-faced Shehan, who had won gold in the 4x100m relay and silver in the 200m sprint, won the ultimate prize at the showpiece event of the competition after clocking a time of 10.46 seconds ahead of India's Qureshi Abdul Najeeb (10.56 sec) and Liaqat Ali (10.63 sec) of Pakistan.

The boy from the Lankan capital said he was ecstatic with his achievement. "It's a great feeling to officially become the fastest man in South Asia. I was confident I would win because I had finished ahead of all other South Asian participants in the Asian meet in South Korea last year."

Shehan's success keeps the title of South Asia's fastest man firmly in Sri Lanka's grip as the previous fastest man Surendra Das, whose timing was 10.52 seconds, was also from Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh's Masudul Karim came eighth while the country's fastest man Golam Mortuza failed to even qualify for the finals.

Shehan, whose favourite sprinter is the current Olympic and world champion Usain Bolt whom he met at the World Athletics Championships in Italy last year, said his next target is to become the fastest man in Asia.

Sri Lanka however surrendered their supremacy in the race for South Asia's fastest woman to Naseem of Pakistan. The Karachi lass created a piece of history when she became the first Pakistani woman to win gold in this event. Naseem clocked a time of 11.81 seconds to win gold ahead of two Sri Lankans -- Pramila Priyadarshani (11.93 sec) and Achala Shalika Diaskath (12.12 sec).

Naseem, overwhelmed with emotions by becoming the fastest woman in the region, said she was yet to come to terms with what she had just achieved. She described it as the best moment of her life.

On the day, four of the seven gold from track went to India, two went to Sri Lanka and one to Pakistan. India took gold in the men's high jump, men's 5,000-metre and both men's and women's 4x400m relay, Sri Lanka took gold in the men's 100m sprint and women's long jump. Pakistan grabbed the women's 100m sprint gold.

Bangladesh's only medal on the day from the track events was a bronze that came in women's 4x400m relay. Bangladeshi girls -- Ishrat Jahan Iva, Khurshida Khatun, Rowshonara Putul, Jasmin Akhttar -- recorded a timing of 3:52:59 seconds to finish third behind Indians' 3:38:62sec for the gold and Sri Lankans' 3:44:81sec for silver.