Chatholi Hamza's tactics worked to perfection on a cool evening at the GMC Balayogi stadium on Wednesday as he snatched India's second medal in athletics at the Military World Games with a superb run in the 1500 metres.

The Indian middle-distance runner was up against a classy field that included current Asian champion Mohammed Othman Shaween, as well as two quality Kenyans in Gideon Gathimba and Shadrack Korir, bronze medallist at the last World Championships. In the heat of the battle, the Indian calmly followed his plans to outwit Shaween and come behind the Kenyans for the bronze medal.

"My aim today was to come away with a medal. To do that in such a field is a great feeling. I hope it is the turning point in my career," said an elated Hamza, who was fourth in the Asian Championships as well as the Asian Games, where Shaween had won the bronze. On this evening, however, the Indian's every stride sent out the message of success.

Hamza's tactics were pretty plain from the start. Korir led early and Gathimba followed him while Hamza was in the middle of the bunch. He kept chasing the leaders, never allowing the Kenyans to move too far away.

At the bell, the Indian was battling it out in fourth place, just behind Shaween. As Gathimba and Korir fought for the top two places, Hamza upped the pace to move past Shaween. In the straight, though, it seemed as if the Indian might fade away, but digging into his reserves, Hamza pulled away to finish in great style.

The Indian's screams of delight could be heard above the din of the crowd and as he celebrated with the tricolour, the Kenyans did their own quiet victory lap. Gathimba won the race in 3: 41.01 and Shadrack took the silver in 3:41.56. Hamza's bronze came in 3:42.84 while Shaween faded away to finish sixth.

"Bahadur Prasad's national record has been standing for the last 12 years, now my aim is to crack that. I have been improving steadily and I am sure I can do that," said the 25-year-old Hamza, a hawaldar at the Madras Regimental Centre in Wellington.

In other events, Daria Rorcrynska of Poland edged Russia's Elena Bolsun in a tight finish to win the women's 200M in 23.44 seconds while in decathlon, Russia's Alexey Drozdov, who was fourth at the World Championships with a best of 8475 points, struck gold with a total of 7712 points.

Results:

Men: 1500M: Gideon Gathimba (Ken, 3:41.01) 1; Shadrack Korir (Ken, 3:41.56) 2; Chatholi Hamza (Ind, 3:42.84) 3.

High jump: Andrey Tereshkhin (Rus, 2.26M) 1; Aliksander Walerianczyk (Pol, 2.26) 2; Viktor Shapoval (Ukr, 2.26) 3.

Javelin throw: Levente Baratha (Rom, 77.16M) 1; Ari Mannio (Fin, 76.77) 2; Georgios Iltsios (Gre, 73.23) 3.

Decathlon: Alexey Drozdov (Rus, 7712 pts) 1; Drozdz Marcin (Pol, 7396) 2; Musa Ahmed Hassan (Qat, 7173) 3.

Women: 200M: Daria Rorcrynska (Pol, 23.44S) 1; Elena Bolsun (Rus, 23.48) 2; Ewelina Kocek (Pol, 23.73) 3.

5000M: Arusei Peninah (Ken, 15:42.20) 1; Nadia Aljufaini (Bah, 15:48.74) 2; Kareena Salah (Bah, 15:53.07) 3.