Ariful betters his timing

Young swimmer Ariful Islam bettered his timing from the South Asian Swimming Championships but failed to secure a semifinal spot in 100m breaststroke event at the ongoing Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia yesterday.

Ariful, who won a gold medal in the under-18 group of the South Asian Swimming Championship in Colombo with a timing of 1:08.21 minutes, clocked 1:07.51 minutes to finish 20th among 29 competitors at the Optus Aquatic Centre yesterday.

The last qualifier for the 16-man semifinals clocked 1:05.83 minutes.

Ariful's teammate Nazma Khatun, who was reportedly sick before her departure for Australia, clocked 31.10 seconds in the 50m freestyle to finish 37th out of 40 swimmers.

In weightlifting events, Fulpati Chakma became 12th out of 14 competitors in the women's 53kg category after lifting a total of 153 kilos -- 68 kilos in snatch and 85 kilos in clean & jerk. India's Sanita Chanu lifted 192 kilos to bag the gold medal in this event.

Fahima Akter finished 13th out of 15 participants after clearing 154 kilos -- 66 kilos in snatch and 88 kilos in clean & jerk -- in the women's 58kg category.

Shimul Kanti Sinha was, however, disqualified after failing to clear his declared 140 kilos in clean & jerk in the men's 69kg category.