Doha: Javelin thrower Annu Rani and 3000m steeple chaser Avinash Sable led the charge with a silver each as India won five medals on the opening day of the Asian Athletics Championships Sunday.
Quartermiler M P Poovamma, 5000m runner Parul Choudhary and 10000m runner Gavit Murali Kumar bagged a bronze each on a day which saw sprint sensation Hima Das suffer a lower back spasm during her 400m heat.
However there was no such worry for Dutee Chand as she smashed her own national record in 100m dash to qualify for the semifinals.
The 26-year-old Annu, who had won a bronze in the 2017 edition in Bhubaneswar, hurled the spear to a best distance of 60.22m to grab the silver. China’s Lyu Huihui won the gold with an effort of 65.83m at the Khalifa Stadium.
The 24-year-old Parul finished third in women’s 5000m race, clocking a personal best of 15 minutes 36.03 seconds. She bettered her earlier personal best of 15:58.35 which she had clocked during the Federation Cup last month.
Gavit Murali won India’s final medal of the day with a bronze in men’s 10000m race with a personal best time of 28 minute 38.34 seconds. He finished behind two Bahrain runners, Dawit Fikadu (28:26.30) and Hassan Chani (28:31.30).
Earlier in the morning session, 23-year-old Dutee clocked 11.28 seconds to set a national record while winning her heat in the women’s 100m race.
She has qualified for the semifinals. Dutee bettered her earlier national record of 11.29 seconds which she set last year in Guwahati.
The Odisha runner, however, could not touch the 11.24 second qualification mark for the World Championships.
PTI
