Dhaka, Feb.9 : Pakistan's Naseem Akhtar has become the fastest woman in South Asia as she clocked 11.81seconds to win the 100-metre sprint gold medal at the South Asian Games here.

Akhtar, 22, was 0.12 seconds of Sri Lanka's Pramila Priyadarshani, who bagged the silver medal.

Expressing joy at her feat, Akhtar, who hails from Rawalpindi, said he had trained really hard for the past six months.

She hoped that her performance would bring some cheer to the country after the cricket team's pitiable show against Australia.

"It is a great moment for me to have brought glory to the country in my event after the poor showing by our national cricket team and especially since our athletics standards have been poor of late. I hope my performance will inspire the young athletes to become professionals," The Dawn quoted Akhtar, as saying.

It is for the first time that a Pakistani woman has won the 100-metre sprint in the 26-year old history of the regional games.

Pakistan has won four gold, two silver and four bronze medals in the track and field events so far.