Saraswati Saha, Beenamol bag gold

India's Saraswati Saha scripted a surprise victory in the women's 100 metres sprint, beating Sri Lanka's Damyanti Darsha in the second leg of the Asian Grand Prix athletics meeting in Bangkok on Tuesday.

The blow in the 100 metres was preceded by defeat for Darsha in her pet 400 metres, where India's K M Beenamol extracted her revenge by outclassing the Sri Lankan.

Beenamol was beaten by Darsha in the first leg at Hyderabad on May 18.

Indian shot putters too had a field day by effecting a clean sweep, as Navpreet Singh won the event with a mighty heave of 18.92 metres while Bahadur Singh took silver and Kuldeep Mann the bronze.

India's K M Binu made up for his disappointment in the first leg by taking the gold in the men's 800 metres. He clocked one minute 50.10 seconds. Kim Soon-Hyung of South Korea came second. Finishing third was Kim's countryman Lee Jae-hoon, who had won the event at Hyderbad.

Thai runners won both first and second places in the men's 100 meters. Sitthichai Suwornpratheep, 22, hit the tape in just 10.62 seconds, while his countryman Rienchai Seehawong crossed the finish line in second place at 10.70 seconds. India's Clifford Joshua was third.

Despite a heavy downpour that delayed the start of the event at Bangkok's Thammasat University Rangsit main stadium, nearly 10 elite athletes from 18 countries took part in the competition.