The 16-year-old prodigy from country's lone sports institute BKSP celebrated her first success in any international meet when she won a close battle with Indian Purnima a day after her Pabna mate Asif won the men's 10m air-rifle gold. Incidentally, Asif is also a BKSP student.

Sharmin scored 493.9 points against Purnima's 492.9 to present Bangladesh their second gold in the regional sporting extravaganza.

The little known Sharmin shot to fame from virtually nowhere with her best-ever score yesterday. In her only previous international appearance, the teenager collected a disappointing 386 points in the same event at the Asian shooting championship in Malaysia in February this year.

Although Asif's triumph was expected, Sharmin success took everybody by surprise.

Sharmin also played a vital role in ensuring the silver in the team event as she and her partners Sabrina and Surya came up with a score of 1159.

While the shooters continued to smile, the swimmers on the other hand failed to make any impression in the pool. Karar Samedul Islam, who appeared a good bet for gold in the build up to the Games, bagged his second bronze when he clocked 31.55 seconds in the men's 50m breaststroke. India continued to dominate the pool with Puneet clinching the gold clocking 31 seconds in the event.

Kazi Monirul won the second bronze for Bangladesh in swimming with a timing of 25.05 seconds in the men's 50m free-style.

Sharmin's gold however placed Bangladesh third in the overall standings after the third day with hosts Pakistan enjoying a slight edge over India, winning highest 17 medals.

But India, who are the undisputed the monarchs of the SAF Games, lead the gold medal tally with 12 under their belt, compared to Pakistan's five

Bangladesh have so far won 12 medals, Sri Lanka eight, Nepal four and Afghanistan, who are making their first appearance in the meet, have won three. Bhutan and the Maldives were yet to get their names on the list.

In the day's other events, Bangladesh volleyball team registered a 25-21, 25-21, 25-20 points victory against Afghanistan. It was Bangladesh's second win after their success against Maldives on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh football team face Pakistan in a crucial match at the Jinnah Stadium today. The holders need a draw to advance into the last four while Pakistan have no other option but to win.

The Bangladesh kabaddi team will lock horns with India today hoping for an upset.

Around 1,800 participants are competing in the 10-day games.