Sonia Baishya wins 400m gold, Jisna Mathew bags silver in Sri Lankan Athletics C'ships

Sonia Baishya clinched the women's 400m gold medal, as her fellow Indian quarter-miler Jisna Mathew bagged the silver medal on the second day of the Sri Lanka Athletics National Championships in Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo, on Saturday.

Sonia, who hails from Raiganj district of West Bengal, clocked 53.46 seconds, falling just eight milliseconds short of her Personal Best (PB) effort of 53.38 and four milliseconds of her season best 53.42s achieved at the Federation Cup in Ranchi in February.

The 27-year-old, who grew up with zero infrastructural support, running on a grassy uneven field, has been a promising quarter-miler, as she has been consistently clocking a good timing this season.

Jisna Mathew, who has a PB of 52.65, delivered a below-par performance, clocking 53.75 seconds.

Earlier Friday, javelin thrower Kishore Kumar Jena came up with his personal and season-best throw of 84.38m to clinch the gold medal, as Shivpal Singh settled for silver with a distant 77.36m throw. Jena, who had a PB of 82.87m until the Sri Lankan meet, is now ranked fourth among the Indian throwers.

In pole vault, S Siva won silver after he cleared 4.90m.

Ahead of the Asian Games and World Championships, this event has come as a practice session for Indian athletes. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has sent a total of 27 Indian athletes to the island nation. Athletes from India and Maldives participated in the Sri Lanka Athletics National Championships, which will end on July 30.