Bhubaneswar: Jauna Murmu kept hopes of a second home-grown medal alive by qualifying for the finals of the 400m hurdles on the second of the competition of the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships at the Kalinga Stadium here Friday.
Jauna clocked 57.96 seconds to finish second in her heat and qualify for the finals which come off Saturday. The heat was won by Nguyen Thi of Vietnam who clocked 57.34 seconds while R Anu of Orissa finished third with a time of 58.26 seconds. The final will start approximately at around 8.20pm Saturday evening.
Jauna’s time emerged the second best among all the competitors. That definitely increases her chance of winning a medal. It will be a huge redemption for her after she had been suspended for doping. However, she has shown the grit to fight back and will definitely be the cynosure of all fans when the event gets underway, Saturday.
With India’s 4x100m women’s team also taking part in the final Saturday, it will be the chance for Dutee Chand to win her second medal of the competition. Another Orissa hope Srabani Nanda will also be seen in action as the 200m heats will get underway.
Meanwhile Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik visited the Kalinga Stadium, Saturday evening. He informed that all medal-winners from the state will receive cash incentives. Gold medallists will get Rs 7,00,000, silver medal winners will get Rs 5,50,000 and bronze winners will get Rs 2,50,000 lakhs.
