Nikhil Chandrasekhar springs a surprise at Asian U-20 Championships

Bengaluru: India's young and track field athletes' success at the just-concluded Asian U-20 Championships was along expected lines as the nation equalled their best-ever finish behind China. The spread of 10 gold medals were mostly expected, save an 18-year-old from Bengaluru.

Ask those hoping for an Indian medal in the men's 3000m steeplechase, nobody was counting on Mandya-born Nikhil Chandrasekhar to beat Japan's Yuu Kato, whose season best of 8:45.80 seconds stood him apart from the rest of the field.

Nikhil, for that matter, had a lot of convincing to do to as his personal best 9:35.30, clocked during a third-place finish at the qualifying event in Tumakuru last April, didn't put him anywhere among the favourites for medals except for those who were his close allies.

"To be honest, I was hopeful that he could win silver at least as the Japanese runner looked too good," says Priyanka C, Nikhil's elder sister and reigning women's 3000m National Indoors champion.

Alike Neeraj Chopra's Tokyo Olympics triumph, when the Indian javelin star stunned heavy favourite Johannes Vetter, the young steeplechaser didn't just overtake Yuu in the final lap but ensured he never allowed the Japanese to catch up. The pace his legs produced at the dying stretch of a sultry evening in Hong Kong was palpable.

"I feel it was the adrenaline rush that got me through in the final phases," says Nikhil, who is trained by OP Jaisha in Bengaluru. "Once I overtook a couple of them, I felt I had the legs to overtake the Japanese too in the final lap as his pace visibly dropped and I went for it."

Unlike the sprint events, where pace takes prominence over a matter of few seconds, long-distance events like steeplechase are more tactical in nature with pre and mid-race strategies deciding the outcome.

"Before I left for Hong Kong, my sister told me that the training part is done, now it's about how I use my mind and plan the race," says Nikhil.

Once in Hong Kong, three days before the race, Nikhil followed the Indian coaches' instruction to stay indoors and conserve his energy during the day and train in the evening with the aim of acclimatising for the big day.

"I was clear in my mind that I am not here to see Hong Kong even if it's my first foreign trip. I knew I could do all that once the race was over. All that I had on my mind was what my coach said, 'don't go all out from the start, build your pace lap by lap'," says the young man, who looks up to his idol Avinash Sable.

Sable has taken steeplechase to new heights in the country by improving the once stagnant national mark multiple times and by more than 30 seconds to the current best of 8.09.91. The standard has been set high for Nikhil.

"At the world level, it's only going to get faster as Avinash sir has shown us. I aim to reach there in future and take steeplechase to new heights," concludes Nikhil.