China stamped their authority in the 100m event wining a grand double in both the men’s and women’s category but there was plenty to cheer for India on Day Two of the 20th Asian Athletics Championships as the hosts finished with a gold, silver and bronze at the Balewadi Sports Complex here on Thursday.
Seasoned discus thrower and top seed Vikas Gowda earned India their first gold while quarter-miler M.R. Poovamma secured a silver and the 10,000m runner Rati Ram Saini capped off a rewarding day with a bronze medal.
Gowda, one of the brightest medal prospects from India, showed no signs of pressure and claimed the first medal in the discus throw event after Krishna Poonia and Seema Antil had failed on Wednesday.
Emerging star M.R. Poovamma, who had won three straight golds in the Asian Grand Prix, put up a credible show with a silver in the women’s 400m, clocking 53.37 sec. The gold was secured by China’s Zo Yanmin. In a close finish, Gretta Taslakian from Lebanon piped India’s Anu Mariam Jose for bronze after clocking 53.43 to 53.49 in the same event.
It looked like the Indians would excel in the 10,000m race, when home long distance runners led initially but the Bahrain duo outdid them in the end with a 1-2 finish. Rati Ram Saini (29:35.42) secured a bronze, while Kheta Ram finished fourth with a timing of 29:35.72.
There was some more joy for the hosts as hurdlers Siddhanth Thingalaya (men’s 110m) and Gayathry Hemasree (women’s 100m) advanced to the finals.
National record holder Sahana Kumari had to settle for a fourth-place finish after clearing only 1.86m against her personal best of 1.92m. Kumari exited the complex amidst tears even as Uzbekistan’s Nadia Dusanova became the first woman to secure gold in high jump.
The much-anticipated rivalry between defending champion Su Bingtain and Qatar’s Samuel Francis lived up to its fame but there was no change in the eventual outcome. Bingtain proved too hot for Francis, clocking 10.17s while Francis bagged silver with 10.27s. The bronze went to Barakat Al-Harthi from Bahrain (10.30s).
In the women’s dash, China’s Wei Yongli dished out a spirited performance clocking 11.29s to claim the gold. Despite registering her personal best, Yongli missed out the meet record by just 5/100th of a second. Chisato Fukushima of Japan (11.53s) and Tao Yujia of China (11.63s) finished second and third, respectively.