Bhubaneswar: India continued their brilliant run in the track events winning four gold medals on the second day of the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships at the Kalinga Stadium here Friday.
With schedules going haywire due heavy seasonal showers in the evening, the performance of the Indian men and women lifted the pall of gloom at the Kalinga Stadium here as many spectators thought action would be called off due to the inclement weather.
Muhammed Anas (men’s 400m), Nirmla (women’s 400m), Ajay Kumar Saroj (men’s 1500m) and Chitra PU (women’s 1500m) won gold medals for India in their respective events.
In the men’s 400m Anas clocked 45.77 seconds to strike gold. Rajiv Arokia made it a one-two for India by grabbing the silver with a time of 46.14 seconds. Ahmed Mubarak of Oman finished third with a timing of 46.39 seconds.
In the women’s quartermile Haryana girl Nirmala emerged champion with a timing of 52.02 seconds. Quach Thi of Vietnam took silver with a time of 52.78 seconds while Jisna Mathew of India won the bronze medal with a timing of 53.32 seconds.
In the men’s 1,500 meters India’s Saroj hit the jackpot as he clocked 3:45.85 seconds to emerge champion. Jamal Hairane of Quatar took silver with a time of 3:46.90s. Molsem Niadoost of Iran had to be satisfied with the third position after clocking 3:48.90 seconds.
In the women’s 1,500 metres Chitra took the top honours with a dominating run. She finished her run in 4:17.92 seconds to bag the gold. She led from the half-way stage of the race. China’s Geng Min and Japan’s Ayako Jinnouchi tried to keep up pace with her. However, once Chitra broke away on the slightly damp tracks, there was no stopping her. Min (4.19.15s) had to be content with silver while Jinnouchi (4.19.90) seconds finished with bronze.
Women sprinter Dutee Chand settled for a bronze in 100m before Tejinder Pal Singh Toor added a silver in men’s shot put with an effort of 19.77m as India ended a very productive day winning four gold, two silver and two bronze medals.
An ecstatic Sheoran after winning the gold said, “I knew I would win today (Friday) but the rain and delay led to the slow timing. I could have produced a better timing had everything been on schedule.”
