And as the familiar tune of Tagore blared from the electronic sound system tears of joy was pouring down the cheeks of the 19-year-old BKSP swimmer, who not only clinched a gold medal in the 50m breaststroke but also confirmed that Bangladesh will not return home empty-handed for the first time in the regional 'Olympic' extravaganza.

Shahjahan, who settled for silver in the 100m three days earlier, started well and held steady with only a handful of Bangladeshi supporters cheering him.

India's Sandeep Sejwal, who won the 100m event, had broken the Games record in the heats earlier in the morning in 30.43s while Shahjahan had finished on 30.63s.

The Indian pushed hard halfway through the mark in the finals but the man at Lane 5, Shahjahan, stretched in the final metres to have the last laugh. He touched the block just 0.03 seconds ahead of Sejwal, also emulating the Games record of 30.43s. The previous record was 31.00s by India's Puneet Rana, who won the inaugural event in Islamabad two years ago.

Breaststroke has been Bangladesh's pet event in the Games' history and in the victory stands, Niaz Ali stood beside Shahjahan to collect a bronze medal, finishing on 51.52s for his third medal in the swimming competition, which concluded yesterday.

Shahjahan fought hard to hold back his tears while talking to the reporters after heroic effort.

"I am very happy to win. The whole nation was looking forward to me and my teammates kept inspiring me," said Shahjahan, a first-year HSC student at the Savar sports institute.

"I am happy that I have given the nation something to cheer about," said the boy from Chapainawabganj, who has been training under BKSP's Chinese coach for the past three years after switching over to breaststroke from freestyle in 2000.

"I did not feel any pressure after a perfect start but actually I am happier with the finishing."

Shahjahan lost his father about five years ago and since then, his mother's job in Kuwait has been running the family of two sons and a daughter.

"She came home last year and my elder brother and I would not let her go again. I thank my family for supporting me," said the only sportsman in the family.

Shahjahan felt that to maintain the success he achieved in his first international meet, he would need more facilities at home.

"If I want to do better in 100m, I will need more support from the authorities. Swimming has been ignored often although it always brings laurels. The situation must be changed if we have to succeed in the next SA Games in Dhaka," he added.