AFI Media
New Delhi
India’s defending champion in men’s shot put, Tajinderpal Singh Toor overcame groin pain to clinch the gold medal in the ongoing 25th edition of the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok on Friday.
India’s second gold of the day came in the women’s 3000m steeplechase through Parul Chaudhary, while long jumper Shaili Singh added silver to the medal tally.
According to information reaching here, the 28 years old Punjab’s Asian Games champion had an opening throw of 19.80m, while his second attempt of 20.23m was good enough to fetch him the gold medal.
Incidentally, Toor won gold at the 2019 edition of the Asian championships with a throw of 20.22m. His personal and season best of 21.77m was recorded last month in Bhubaneswar in the domestic meeting.
Toor claimed he could only attempt two throws in the medal round due to an injury sustained three days prior to the competition. All competitors get six attempts in the medal round.
“I wasn’t able to fully recover from the groin pain sustained during a practice session. The pain aggravated after the second throw and I couldn’t continue,” the two-time Asian champion said.
Incidentally, Toor won gold at the 2019 edition of the Asian championships with a throw of 20.22m.
Away from the throwing arena, 28 years old Parul dominated the women’s 3000m steeplechase race. Her winning time was 9:38.76 seconds.
Parul wasn’t satisfied with her timing but was happy to have won the gold. “My target was to come first and I’m feeling good,” Parul said in the post-race interaction.
But it was heartbreak for Priti Lamba as she narrowly missed a bronze medal in the steeplechase. Japan’s Remi Yoshimura edged out Priti at the tape by clocking 9:48.48 seconds. Priti’s time was 9:48:50 seconds
In the men’s steeplechase, India’s Bal Kishan finished fourth (8:46.98 secs), while Mohd Nur Hasan didn’t finish the race.
India’s promising long jumper Shaili Singh had to contend with silver (6.54m) behind Japanese Sumire Hata (Japan) 6.97m. The 19 year old Shaili got off to a good start, her opening jump was 6.54m, but wasn’t able to build on her successive jumps due to lack of good rhythm. “I hope to do better in my next competition,” Shaili said after winning silver.
In heptathlon Swapna Barman was placed at the second spot with 3392 points, while Ekaterina Voronina of Uzbekistan was leading the eight-member field with a score of 3448 after four events on day-one of the competition.
The Indian contingent hopes to earn a medal in the men’s 400m hurdles as both Yashas Palaksha and Santosh Kumar qualified for the final today.
Results:
Men
3000m Steeplechase: Ryoma Aoki (Japan) 8:34.91, Yaser Salem Bagharab (Qatar) 8:37.11, Seiya Sunada (Japan) 8:39.17, Bal Kishan (India) 8:46.98 secs—fourth.
Shot Put: Tajinderpal Singh Toor (India) 20.23m, Mehdi Saberi (Iran) 19.98m), Ivanov Ivan (Kazakhstan) 19.87m
Women:
3000m Steeplechase: Parul Chaudhary (India) 9:38.76, Xu Shuangshuang (China) 9:44.54, Reimi Yoshimura (Japan) 9:48.48, Priti Lamba (India) 9:48.50–fourth.
Long Jump: Sumire Hata (Japan) 6.97m, Shaili SIngh (India) 6.54m, Zhong Jiawei (China) 6.46m, Ancy Sojan (India) 6.41m—fourth.
