Nagoya: Long jumper Ancy Sojan and high jumper Sarvesh Kushare raised hopes of India’s first athletics gold in the ongoing Asian Games before settling for a silver each to lead the country’s five-medal haul on a productive Sunday.
Decathlete Tajaswin Shankar, 3000m steeplechaser Parul Chaudhary and 200m runner Harita Bhadra clinched a bronze each to take India’s total athletics medal count to 13 (6 silver, 7 bronze) at the Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium that was lashed by incessant drizzle for the second day running.
The 75-member strong Indian athletics team is still searching for a gold with two days left in the competition.
The 25-year-old Ancy was on the verge of winning her maiden Asian Games gold with her fifth round effort of 6.53m but China’s Huang Yingying produced a late 6.55m effort in the final jump of the competition to snatch the gold.
“Yeah, actually little bit heartbreak for the 2cm I missed. Till the very last moment I was in gold position. But fate is different. Today is not my day,” a disappointed Ancy, who holds the national record of 6.88m, said later.
“But I am happy for one thing. This is my second Asian Games and I am a medallist in both. This is not the end for me. I will come back stronger.”
Another Indian in the fray, Shaili Singh, was in the bronze medal position with her fifth round jump of 6.42m but she was pushed to fourth after the Chinese gold winner’s final attempt.
It was a protracted contest in the men’s high jump between Kushare and eventual gold winner Chao-hsuan Fu of Chinese Taipei. The Indian was in the gold medal position till the bar was raised to 2.22m.
Kushare needed just one jump to clear the bar at 2.22m while Fu could clear the same height in his second attempt. But the scenario changed when the bar was raised to 2.25m.
Kushare, who holds the national record of 2.31m, needed a second jump to clear the height while the Chinese Taipei athlete did it in his first try.
Both went for 2.28m but failed in three attempts. The gold medal was awarded to Fu on countback, with Kushare settling for silver, with the same 2.25m height being credited to both.
“This medal means a lot to me, because such Games come after four years. You never know what happens in four years,” said Kushare who had finished fourth in the last edition in China.
“I also won silver in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, so I wanted to win gold but couldn’t do it. But I am satisfied that the medal has come. It will give me confidence going ahead.”
Decathlete Tejaswin Shankar added another bronze to add to the silver he had won in the last edition. He accumulated 7934 points in the gruelling 10-event discipline competed over two days. Japan’s Maruyama took the gold with 8123 points while China’s Chen X aggregated 8012 points to win the silver.
“It was more of losing a silver than winning a bronze,” Tajaswin, who holds the national record of 8057 points, said.
“I did four decathlons this year. I’ve been going on since 30th of January but not blaming anybody. I had to do it and I needed to get that performance.”
Parul clocked 9 minute 8.67 seconds to break her own national record of 9:12.46, but that was enough to win a bronze. She had won a silver in the previous edition in the same event.
Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi grabbed gold, finishing ahead of Kazakhstan’s Norah Jeruto Tanui (9:06.82).
Earlier, Harita Bhadra clinched the bronze medal in the women’s 200m, clocking 23.20 seconds in the final.
Bhadra finished third, just ahead of Japan’s Ido Abigeirufuka, who clocked 23.21 seconds. Singapore’s Shanti Pereira won the gold with a season-best 22.78 seconds, while China’s Chen Yujie took the silver in 22.93 seconds.
The other Indian in the final, Unnathi Aiyappa Bolland, finished sixth with a timing of 23.48 seconds.
Bhadra’s participation in the Asian Games was cleared in the last minute and she turned it into an opportunity.
The Mumbai girl was not in the initial Indian athletics team but she was later added after a request by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was accepted by the organisers here. She and another five athletes were cleared by the sports ministry September 2.
“I knew it’s going to be a close race. So I was like, I have to fight till the end and make sure of a good finish. I was thinking that I am going to enjoy this race. I don’t have to take any pressure because I’ve done the work first of all.
“It (the medal) means so much to me because this is my first time representing India.”
Last year, she graduated from Loughborough University in the United Kingdom with a BSc in Sports Science, Coaching and Physical Education.
In other events, long jumpers Murali Sreeshankar and David Solomon, 400m hurdlers Santhosh Tamilrasan, Vithya Ramaraj and Anu Raghavan qualified for the finals of their respective events.
Sreeshankar produced a best effort of 7.84m to finish second in qualification, while Solomon’s 7.62m placed him seventh as both qualified for the men’s long jump final.
In the men’s 400m hurdles, Santhosh finished second in the opening heat with a timing of 49.61 seconds to qualify for the final.
However, Yashas Palaksha, competing in the second heat, pulled up before clearing the first hurdle to DNF (Did Not Finish).
Both Indian women advanced automatically in the 400m hurdles after finishing second in their respective heats. Vithya clocked 55.73 seconds, while Anu timed 55.84 seconds.
