Asian Athletics c’ships: Kujur smashes national record as India end campaign with 24 medals

Parul Chaudhary claimed her second silver medal as India capped off a strong showing at the 26th Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea, finishing second overall with a total of 24 medals (eight gold, 10 silver and six bronze) on Saturday. Javelin thrower Sachin Yadav and the women’s 4x100m relay team also added silvers to India’s tally, while sprinter Animesh Kujur smashed the national record in the men’s 200m to bag a bronze on the final day.

Earlier in the day, Vithya Ramraj clinched bronze in the women’s 400m hurdles, and Pooja recorded a personal best to finish third in the women’s 800m.

Advertisement

The 30-year-old Parul, who had earlier bagged a silver in women’s 3000m steeplechase, clocked 15:15.33s to finish behind Kazakhstan’s Norah Jeruto Tanui (14:58.71s) in the women’s 5000m event. Japan’s Yuma Yamamoto took bronze with 15:16.86s.

India finished its campaign with a silver from the women’s 4x100m relay team, with a Season’s Best timing of 43.86s. The team consisted of Srabani Nanda, Abhinaya Rajarajan, Sneha SS, and Nithya Gandhe. The Indian quartet was left marginally behind the Chinese team, who secured the gold by crossing the finish line within 43.28 seconds. Thailand finished third in 44.26 seconds.

In men’s javelin throw competition, Sachin Yadav finished second to reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan, with a Personal Best effort of 85.16m. Nadeem, featuring in his first competition after the Paris Olympics, expectedly took the gold medal with a 86.40m throw. Japan’s Yuta Sakiyama finished third with a best effort of 83.75m.

Yashvir Singh, the other Indian javelin thrower in the fray, finished fifth with his personal best throw of 82.57m. Despite their best-ever efforts, both Sachin and Yashvir remain outside of the World Championship qualification mark, which requires a minimum throw of 85.50m for the athlete to qualify for the tournament.

Earlier, sprinter Animesh Kujur opened India’s tally on the final day, with a rare medal in the men’s 200m event. Kujur delivered a standout performance, setting a new national record of 20.32 seconds to claim the bronze.

The 21-year-old bettered his previous mark of 20.40s, which was set earlier this year at the National Federation Senior Athletics Competition. With this medal, Animesh matched Dharambir Singh’s 2015 feat as India’s second-ever 200m medalist at the Asian Championships.

Japan’s Towa Uzawa won gold with a time of 20.12s, while Saudi Arabia’s Abdulaziz Abdu I Atafi took silver in 20.31s.

In women’s 400m hurdles, Asian Games medallist Vithya secured India’s second bronze of the day. The 26-year-old Tamil Nadu athlete clocked 56.46s to finish on the podium.

China’s Mo Jiadie clinched gold in 55.31s, narrowly edging Bahrain’s Oluwakemi Adekoya, who finished second in 55.32s. Anu Raghavan, the other Indian in the race, placed seventh with 57.46s.

Pooja clinched India’s third bronze of the day, with a personal best effort of 2:01.89s in women’s 800m event. China’s Wu Hongjiao (2:00:00s) and Japan’s Rin Kubo (2:00:42s) won gold and silver, respectively.

Elsewhere, in the women’s 200m final, Jyoti Yarraji finished fifth after clocking 23.47s, while Nithya Gandhe came seventh in 23.90s. Yarraji had won gold in the women’s 100m hurdles earlier in the week.

In men’s 800m, India’s Krishan Kumar (1:48.72) and Anu Kumar (1:58.04) finished seventh and eighth, respectively. Kuwait’s Ebrahim Alzofairi (1:44.59s) bagged gold while Iran’s Ali Amirian (1:44:97s) and Qatar’s Abubhaker Haydar H Abdalla (1:45.20 s) won silver and bronze, respectively.