<div align="justify">In pouring rain, India minted gold in rousing fashion on the second day of the Asian Athletics Championships here at the Kalinga Stadium.<br /><br />Four gold medals for the country on a single day in an international meet is unheard of but that is exactly what the Indian athletes achieved on Friday.<br /><br />They swept gold medals in the men’s and women’s 400 and 1500 metres – in depleted fields it has to be said – to soar to the top of the medals table. India also had two silver and two bronze medals on the day, taking their tally to six gold, three silver and six bronze.<br /><br />Nirmala Sheoran set the hosts on the way withvictory in the women’s 400M and Muhammed Anas followed it up with a superb win in the men’s 400 -- India’s first in this event in 42 years. Then came two surprises in the 1500 metres, with P U Chitra and Ajay Kumar Saroj notching convincing wins.<br /><br />Sriram Singh was the last Indian to win the men’s 400M at the Asian Championships, way back in 1975 in Seoul. On Friday, Anas ended that barren spell.<br /><br />The 22-year-old, who had set a national record of 45.32 earlier in the season, had been forced to run an extra race in the morning, after a confusion over the start of his semifinal race on Thursday led to a re-run. <br /><br />He came through that test and then blew away doubts regarding his fitness in the final with a well-paced race, clocking 45.77 seconds. It was an Indian one-two, with Arokia Rajiv claiming the silver in 46.14.<br /><br />“I am happy with the gold but not with the race. I could have done much better had the weather been good. The extra race also proved taxing,” said Anas.<br /><br />After the heavy rain that held up the action eased, Nirmala outclassed the 400M field after battling it out with Quach Thi Lan of Vietnam at the top of the straight. She clocked 52.01 and Thi Lan 52.78. Behind them, Jisna Mathew (53.32) warded off M R Poovamma (53.36) for the bronze. <br /><br />India had last won this event in 2007.<br /><br />The 1500M fields lacked depth and Chitra made full use of it with a fine surge in the straight for her country’s first gold in this event since Sinimole Paulose’s success in 2007.<br /> In the men’s race, Saroj (3:45.85) was so sure of his win that he started celebrating well before the finish. He became India’s first champion in this event since Bahadur Prasad in 1989.<br /><br />Iran’s Ali Samari had just one legal throw – 19.80 -- for the gold in men’s shot put. Tejinder Pal Singh (19.77) earned silver for India.<br /><br />Another Iranian – Hassan Taftian -- toppled defending champion Femi Ogunode in the 100M. Taftian’s 10.25 was one-hundredths of a second better than Femi’s 10.26, with the latter suffering a leg injury at the finish.<br /><br />Dutee Chand (11.52) fought hard to win the bronze in women’s 100M. Viktoriya Zyabkina of Kazakhstan nailed the gold in 11.39 seconds.<br /><br />India’s Amiya Kumar Mallick was disqualified for a false start in the semifinals of the men’s 100M, raising eye-brows. <br />In the morning, he had violated the exchange zone in the 4x100 semifinals, leading to India’s disqualification.<br /><br />Results: Men: 100M: Hassan Taftian (Iran) 10.25 seconds, 1; Femi Ogunode (Qatar) 10.26, 2; Yang Chun-Han (Chinese Taipei) 10.31, 3.<br /><br />400M: Muhammed Anas (India) 45.77 seconds, 1; Arokia Rajiv (India) 46.14, 2; Ahmed Mubarak (Oman) 46.39, 3.<br /><br />1500M: Ajay Kumar Saroj (India) 3:45.85, 1; Jamal Al-Hayrani (Qatar) 3:46.90, 2; Moslem Niadoost (Iran) 3:48.53, 3.<br /><br />Shot put: Ali Samari (Iran) 19.80 metres, 1; Tejinderpal Singh (India) 19.77, 2; Ivan Ivanov (Kazakhstan) 19.41, 3.<br /><br />Triple jump: Zhu Yaming (China) 16.82 metres, 1; Mark Harry Diones (Philippines) 16.45, 2; Xu Xiaolong (China) 16.45, 3. Arpinder Singh (India) 16.33, 4.<br /><br />Decathlon: Suttisak Singkon (Thailand) 7732 points, 1; Kazuya Kawasai (Japan) 7584, 2; Guo Qi (China) 7495, 3. Abhishek Shetty (India) 6976, 5.<br /><br />Women: 100M: Viktoriya Zyabkina (Kazakhstan) 11.39 seconds, 1; Olga Safronova (Kazakhstan) 11.45, 2; Dutee Chand (India) 11.52, 3.<br /><br />400M: Nirmala Sheoran (India) 52.01 seconds, 1; Quach Thi (Vietnam) 52.78, 2; Jisna Mathew (India) 52.78, 3.<br /><br />1500M: Chitra P U (India) 4:17.92, 1; Geng Min (China) 4:19.15, 2; Ayako Jinnouchi (Japan) 4:19.90, 3.<br /><br />High jump: Nadiya Dusanova (Uzbekistan) 1.84M, Yeung Man Wai (Hong Kong), Wang Xuei (China), Liu Jingyi (China) 1.80 (all three silver). Sahana Kumari (India) 1.75, 6.<br /><br />Hammer throw: Luo Na (China) 69.92 metres 1; Liu Tingting (China) 69.45, 2; Hitomi Katsuyama (Japan) 60.22, 3.</div>
<div align="justify">In pouring rain, India minted gold in rousing fashion on the second day of the Asian Athletics Championships here at the Kalinga Stadium.<br /><br />Four gold medals for the country on a single day in an international meet is unheard of but that is exactly what the Indian athletes achieved on Friday.<br /><br />They swept gold medals in the men’s and women’s 400 and 1500 metres – in depleted fields it has to be said – to soar to the top of the medals table. India also had two silver and two bronze medals on the day, taking their tally to six gold, three silver and six bronze.<br /><br />Nirmala Sheoran set the hosts on the way withvictory in the women’s 400M and Muhammed Anas followed it up with a superb win in the men’s 400 -- India’s first in this event in 42 years. Then came two surprises in the 1500 metres, with P U Chitra and Ajay Kumar Saroj notching convincing wins.<br /><br />Sriram Singh was the last Indian to win the men’s 400M at the Asian Championships, way back in 1975 in Seoul. On Friday, Anas ended that barren spell.<br /><br />The 22-year-old, who had set a national record of 45.32 earlier in the season, had been forced to run an extra race in the morning, after a confusion over the start of his semifinal race on Thursday led to a re-run. <br /><br />He came through that test and then blew away doubts regarding his fitness in the final with a well-paced race, clocking 45.77 seconds. It was an Indian one-two, with Arokia Rajiv claiming the silver in 46.14.<br /><br />“I am happy with the gold but not with the race. I could have done much better had the weather been good. The extra race also proved taxing,” said Anas.<br /><br />After the heavy rain that held up the action eased, Nirmala outclassed the 400M field after battling it out with Quach Thi Lan of Vietnam at the top of the straight. She clocked 52.01 and Thi Lan 52.78. Behind them, Jisna Mathew (53.32) warded off M R Poovamma (53.36) for the bronze. <br /><br />India had last won this event in 2007.<br /><br />The 1500M fields lacked depth and Chitra made full use of it with a fine surge in the straight for her country’s first gold in this event since Sinimole Paulose’s success in 2007.<br /> In the men’s race, Saroj (3:45.85) was so sure of his win that he started celebrating well before the finish. He became India’s first champion in this event since Bahadur Prasad in 1989.<br /><br />Iran’s Ali Samari had just one legal throw – 19.80 -- for the gold in men’s shot put. Tejinder Pal Singh (19.77) earned silver for India.<br /><br />Another Iranian – Hassan Taftian -- toppled defending champion Femi Ogunode in the 100M. Taftian’s 10.25 was one-hundredths of a second better than Femi’s 10.26, with the latter suffering a leg injury at the finish.<br /><br />Dutee Chand (11.52) fought hard to win the bronze in women’s 100M. Viktoriya Zyabkina of Kazakhstan nailed the gold in 11.39 seconds.<br /><br />India’s Amiya Kumar Mallick was disqualified for a false start in the semifinals of the men’s 100M, raising eye-brows. <br />In the morning, he had violated the exchange zone in the 4x100 semifinals, leading to India’s disqualification.<br /><br />Results: Men: 100M: Hassan Taftian (Iran) 10.25 seconds, 1; Femi Ogunode (Qatar) 10.26, 2; Yang Chun-Han (Chinese Taipei) 10.31, 3.<br /><br />400M: Muhammed Anas (India) 45.77 seconds, 1; Arokia Rajiv (India) 46.14, 2; Ahmed Mubarak (Oman) 46.39, 3.<br /><br />1500M: Ajay Kumar Saroj (India) 3:45.85, 1; Jamal Al-Hayrani (Qatar) 3:46.90, 2; Moslem Niadoost (Iran) 3:48.53, 3.<br /><br />Shot put: Ali Samari (Iran) 19.80 metres, 1; Tejinderpal Singh (India) 19.77, 2; Ivan Ivanov (Kazakhstan) 19.41, 3.<br /><br />Triple jump: Zhu Yaming (China) 16.82 metres, 1; Mark Harry Diones (Philippines) 16.45, 2; Xu Xiaolong (China) 16.45, 3. Arpinder Singh (India) 16.33, 4.<br /><br />Decathlon: Suttisak Singkon (Thailand) 7732 points, 1; Kazuya Kawasai (Japan) 7584, 2; Guo Qi (China) 7495, 3. Abhishek Shetty (India) 6976, 5.<br /><br />Women: 100M: Viktoriya Zyabkina (Kazakhstan) 11.39 seconds, 1; Olga Safronova (Kazakhstan) 11.45, 2; Dutee Chand (India) 11.52, 3.<br /><br />400M: Nirmala Sheoran (India) 52.01 seconds, 1; Quach Thi (Vietnam) 52.78, 2; Jisna Mathew (India) 52.78, 3.<br /><br />1500M: Chitra P U (India) 4:17.92, 1; Geng Min (China) 4:19.15, 2; Ayako Jinnouchi (Japan) 4:19.90, 3.<br /><br />High jump: Nadiya Dusanova (Uzbekistan) 1.84M, Yeung Man Wai (Hong Kong), Wang Xuei (China), Liu Jingyi (China) 1.80 (all three silver). Sahana Kumari (India) 1.75, 6.<br /><br />Hammer throw: Luo Na (China) 69.92 metres 1; Liu Tingting (China) 69.45, 2; Hitomi Katsuyama (Japan) 60.22, 3.</div>