Gritty Raut wins bronze for India

Athletics: Asian Championships: Prajusha, Reshmi disappoint

Kavita came up with her personal best effort of 16:05.19 to win the bronze. She bettered her earlier best of 16:13.17 she had clocked this season.

As expected, Chinese Xue Fei, who had the season’s best timing, won in 16:05.19. Bahrain’s Chalchissa Tejitu Daba won the silver in 16:05.45.

Another Indian, Jhuma Khatun finished seventh, clocking 17:13.10, in the nine-woman final at the Guangdong Olympic Stadium.

In women’s long jump final, MA Prajusha and Reshmi Bose finished sixth and seventh respectively with below par efforts of 6.15M and 6.13M, respectively. Prajusha has a career best of 6.36 metres achieved this season while Reshmi’s best is 6.35 metres.
Marestella Torres of Philippines won the gold with an unimpressive 6.51 metres.

In other events, all the Indians who took the field qualified for the next rounds from their respective heats.

Sathya Suresh ran his personal best of 10.55 seconds to finish second in men’s 100M heat number three to qualify for the semifinals. Compatriot Abdul Najeeb Qureshi also qualified for the semifinals after he finished third in heat number four with a timing of 10.60S.

Their women counterparts, HM Jyothi and Sharadha Narayana, qualified for the 100M semifinals. Jyothi was second in heat number two with an effort of 11.72S while Sharadha was third in heat number three with 12.06S.

In men’s 1500M, Chatholi Hamza and Sunil Kumar qualified for Wednesday’s final. Hamza was second in heat number one with 3:46.24 while Sunil was fifth in heat number two with 3:47.90.

In men’s 400M, Bibin Mathew and Shakeh Mortaja qualified for the final. Mathew won heat number three with an effort of 46.59 secs while Mortaja was third in heat number two with 46.98 secs.

Pramila Aiyappa was languishing at sixth in women’s heptathlon after the completion of four out of seven events with an aggregate of 2981 points.

India are being represented by a strong squad of 60 in the biannual continental competition. They finished second behind China in the last edition in Amman, Jordan, bagging five gold, five silver and five bronze.

Results, all finals, Men: 5000M: James Kwalia C Kurui (Qat) 14:02.90 minutes, 1; Hasan Mahboob (Brn) 14:02.90, 2; Essa Ismail Rashed (Qat) 14:04.52, 3. Hammer throw: Dishod Nazarov (Tjk) 76.92 metres, 1;  Ali Zenkawi (Kuw) 73.45, 2; Ma Liang (Chn) 70.08, 3. Women: Long jump: Marestella Torres (Phi) 6.51 Metres, 1; Chen Ya Ling (Chn) 6.28, 2; Sachiko Masumi (Jpn) 6.28, 3. MA Prajusha (Ind) 6.15, 6; Reshmi Bose (Ind) 6.13, 7. 5000M: Xue Fei (Chn) 16:05.19 minutes, 1; Tejitu Daba Chalchissa (Brn) 16:05.45, 2; Kavita Raut (Ind) 16:05.90, 3;  Jhuma Khatun (Ind) 17:13.10, 7.