MELBOURNE, March 17, 2006 (AFP) - Chinthana Vidanage won Sri Lanka's first ever Commonwealth Games weightlifting gold medal when he took the 62kg title here on Friday snatching victory with the final lift of a dramatic competition.

The 24-year-old edged out India's Arun Murugesan with a huge lift of 153kg taking the gold courtesy of having a lower body weight after both men had finished on 271kg.

Abdul Rashid Roswadi of Malaysia took bronze.

Vidanage had faced elimination after the opening snatch section of the event when he needed three attempts to clear 118kg.

He broke the heart of the 29-year-old Murugesan who had led after the first stage and then was in sight of the gold with a 150kg clean-and-jerk.

But Vidanage, a silver medallist in the 56kg division in Manchester four years ago, saved his best till last with a confident and comfortable final visit to the stage.

An intriguing competition also saw the oldest and youngest lifters at Melbourne.

Australia's Jourik Sarkisian, 44, finished eighth overall, 26 years after he won a silver at the Moscow Olympics competing for the Soviet Union.