Gritty Renjith strikes gold in triple jump
Athletics Asian All Star
National record holder triple jumper Renjith Maheswary led the Indian gold medal charge as the home athletes faced little challenge from their opponents on the concluding day of the Asian All-Star Athletics Meet here on Friday.
Maheswary expectedly clinched gold with an impressive performance of 16.74 metres, a shade below his national mark of 17.04M. Kazakhstan’s Yevgenily Ektov (16.69M) and compatriot Roman Valiyev (16.67M) were second and third respectively.
Other top Indians, men’s shot putter Om Prakash and women’s discus thrower Krishna Poonia bagged gold as there was not much competition with most of the top Asian athletes skipping the meet.
But, national record holder 400M hurdler Joseph Abraham could only manage second with a 50.87 second effort, more than a second below his national mark of 49.51 seconds. Japanese Koike Takayuki won gold with a timing of 50.08. The home country ended the two-day competition on 12 gold, nine silver and 10 bronze.
In men’s shot put, Commonwealth Games medal prospect Om Prakash won gold with a throw of 19.74M though below his best of 20.02M. Compatriot Saurabh Vij won silver with 19.09M while Iran’s Amin Abrahim Paul (18.65M) was third.
Poonia won the women’s discus with an effort of 60.93M while Harwant Kaur (58.73M) and national record holder Seema Antil (54.21M) were second and third respectively.
In women’s 400M hurdles, India’s Jauna Murmu won gold in 57.39 seconds, the fifth fastest in Asia this season.
Sinimole Paulose bagged the gold in 1500M in 4:19.00, nearly three seconds outside her personal best of 4:15.42.
Results: Men: 100M: Shehan Abeypittiyage (Sri Lanka) 10.49 seconds, 1; Chiho Tusi (Hong Kong) 10.50, 2; Chun Ho Lai (Hong Kong) 10.63, 3.
1500M: Chaminda Indika Wijekoon (Sri Lanka) 3:43.88, 1; Artyom Kassininov (Kazakhstan) 3:44.97, 2; Chatholi Hamza (India) 3:48.03, 3.
5000M: Sandeep Batham (India) 14:15.50, 1; Ajay Kumar Patel (India) 14:17.72, 2; Agus Prayogo (Indonesia) 14:22.60, 3. 400M hurdles: Takayuki Koike (Japan) 50.08 seconds, 1; Joseph Abraham (India) 50.87, 2; Avin A Thomas (India) 50.89, 3.
Triple jump: Renjith Maheswary (India) 16.74 metres, 1; Yevgeniy Ektov (Kazakhstan) 16.69, 2; Roman Valiyev (Kazakhstan) 16.67, 3.
Shot put: Om Prakash Singh (India) 19.74 metres, 1; Saurabh Vij (India) 19.09, 2; Amin Abrahim Paul (Iran) 18.65, 3.
Women: 100M: Guzel Khubbieva (Uzbekistan) 11.63 seconds, 1; Maki Wada (Japan) 11.87, 2; Yulia Gavrilova (Kazakhstan) 11.91, 3.
400M hurdles: Juana Murmu (India) 57.39 seconds, 1; Natalya Asanova (Uzbekistan) 59.17, 2; Thi Bac Nguyen (Vietnam) 1:00.64, 3. 1500M: Sinimole Paulose (India) 4:19.00, 1; Ekaterina Tunguskova (Uzbekistan) 4:26.01, 2; Javeri Leila (Iran) 4:34.11, 3.
High jump: Nadiya Dusanova (Uzbekistan) 1.95 metres, 1; Anna Ustinova (Kazakhstan) 1.93, 2; Svetlana Radzivil (Uzbekistan) 1.88, 3.
Discus throw: Krishna Poonia (India) 60.93, 1; Harwant Kaur (India) 58.73, 2; Seema Antil (India) 54.21, 3.
