JOIN USMaiden crown for dominant Indians
Neeraj Chopra led a parade of five golden stars as India emerged champions for the first time in the 44-year history of the Asian Athletics Championships here on Sunday.
On a dramatic night laced with emotions, Chopra uncorked a world class effort to win the javelin throw gold, providing a touch of authenticity to India’s triumphant march in the 22nd edition of the championships.
Japan and then China had been the dominant forces in the continent but as they chose to keep their best away, the Indians seized their chance. The hosts finished with 12 gold, five silver and 12 bronze, displacing China from the top of the table. India’s previous best of 10-7-6 had come at the 1985 meet in Jakarta.
World junior champion Chopra showed his championship calibre to win the javelin gold with a meet record of 85.23 metres while a distance double by G Lakshmanan boosted the Indian total. Swapna Barman’s gutsy effort in heptathlon and two stirring wins in the 4x400 relays added sheen to the Indian show. Amidst the flurry of wins, young Archana Adhav’s disqualification after winning the women’s 800M struck a note of poignancy.
Chopra was in third position till the final round, behind Ahmed Bader Magour (83.70) and compatriot Davinder Singh (83.29). But he rose to the occasion with the biggest throw of the night in the sixth round and raise his arms in celebration. The dope-tainted Davinder claimed bronze but his position will be uncertain till the final ruling on his case comes in.
Armyman Lakshmanan had won the 5000M on the opening day and he mounted another successful assault on the gold, controlling the 10000M along with his compatriot T Gopi. Timing 29:55.87, the Tamil Nadu man became the first Indian to win a 5000-10000 double at the Asian meet.
Defending champion Tintu Luka was the favourite in the women’s 800M but she was hit by a flu and was forced to pull out after 500M. Archana seized her chance to battle bravely with Sri Lanka’s Nimali Waliwarsha but as another Sri Lankan Gayanthika Thushari tried to surge ahead, the Indian seemed to block her. Archana was initially declared the winner but on a protest, she was disqualified for obstruction and Nimali was elevated to gold position, reducing the Indian to tears.
Barman led by 61 points going into the final event of the heptathlon, the 800M. Japanese Meg Hemphill was her main rival and Barman did enough to stay close to her to emerge champion with 5942 points, her personal best. India’s Purnima Hembram won the bronze at 5798.
India easily won the men’s 4x400 relay in 3:02.92 but there was tension in the women’s 4x400. First-leg runner Debashree Majumdar, hit by cramps, slipped to second place while handing over to M R Poovamma. The Karnataka athlete ran hard but still trailed her Vietnamese rival when she handed the baton to Jisna Mathew. Jisna then ran a superb leg to give a 10M lead to India but there was a minor hiccup as she handed the baton to Nirmala Sheoran. The latter managed to stay within the exchange zone and then powered away to victory in 3:31.34, bringing curtains down on a great championship for India.
Results: Men: 200M: Yang Chun-Han (Chinese Taipei) 20.66 seconds, 1; Park Bong-go (South Korea) 20.76, 2; Femi Ogunode (Qatar) 20.79, 3. Amiya Mallick 21.03, 7.
800M: Ibrahm Al-Zafairi (Kuwait) 1:49.47, 1; Jamal Al-Hayrani (Qatar) 1:49.94, 2; Jinson Johnson (India) 1:50.07, 3. Vishwambhar Kolekar 1:51.07, 8.
10000M: G Lakshmanan (India) 29:55.87, 1; Gopi T (India) 29:58.89, 2; Adilet K (Kyrgyzstan) 30:06.65, 3.
Long jump: Huang Changzhou (China) 8.09 metres, 1; Chan Ming Tai (Hong Kong) 8.03, 2; Shoutarou Shiroyama (Japan) 7.97. Ankit Sharma 7.83, 4.
Javelin: Neeraj Chopra (India) 85.23M, 1; Ahmed Bader Magour (Qatar) 83.70, 2; Davinder Singh (India) 83.29, 3.
4x400M relay: India (P Kunhumohammad, Amoj Jacob, Mohd Anas, Arokia Rajiv) 3:02.92, 1; Sri Lanka 3:04.80, 2; Thailand 3:06.48, 3.
Women: 200M: Viktoriya Zyabkina (Kazakhstan) 23.10 seconds, 1; Rumeshika Kumari (Sri Lanka) 23.43, 2; Olga Safranova (Kazakhstan) 23.47, 3. Dutee Chand 23.59, 4; Srabani Nanda 23.67, 5.
800M: Nimali Waliwarsha (Sri Lanka) 2:05.23, 1; Gayanthika Thushari (Sri Lanka) 2:05.27, 2; Fumika Omori (Japan) 2;06.50, 3.
10000M: Daria Maslova (Kyrgyzstan) 32:21.21, 1; Yuka Hori (Japan) 32:23.26, 2; Misuka Matsuda (Japan) 32:46.61, 3.
Pole vault: Chen Qiaoling (China) 4.40 metres, 1; Li Ling (China) 4.20, 2; Chayanisa C (Thailand) 4.10, 3.
Discus throw: Chen Yang (China) 60.41 metres, 1; Subenrat Insaeng (Thailand) 56.82, 2; Lu Xiaoxin (China) 55.27, 3.
Heptathlon: Swapna Barman (India) 5942 points, 1; Meg Hemphill (Japan) 5883, 2; Purnima Hembram (India) 5798, 3.
4x400M relay: India (Debashree Majumdar, M R Poovamma, Jisna Mathew, Nirmala) 3:31.34, 1; Vietnam 3:33.22, 2; Japan 3:37.74, 3.