Nagoya: Sawan Barwal produced the biggest surprise of India’s athletics campaign at the Asian Games, storming to an unexpected silver in the marathon with a stunning national-record run, while seasoned shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor also finished second as the country’s track and field athletes endured a day of mixed fortunes in Nagoya Saturday.
Quarter-miler Prachi Chaudhary added a bronze to India’s athletics tally, which swelled to eight at the end of the fourth day of competitions at the Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium, which endured continuous drizzle throughout the day, leaving the field of play wet.
With three days of competition left, the Indian athletics team is still searching for its first gold. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) is hoping to get at least 25 medals.
The day also witnessed two strong medal contenders and last edition podium finishers — 100m hurdler Jyothi Yarraji and triple jumper Praveen Chithravel — getting injured and pulling out of their respective events.
Yarraji pulled out after feeling pain during the warm-up, according to an AFI official, while Chithravel retired after failing to complete his first attempt as he clutched his leg in pain.
The day began on a bright note with the 28-year-old Barwal, the Armyman from Himachal Pradesh clocking 2 hour, 11 minute and 37 seconds to complete the distance of 42.195km and finish behind Japan’s Ichitaka Yamashita (2:10:49). China’s Peiyou Feng was third with 2:12:13.
His silver is the first medal in the event for India in the Asian Games after the bronze won by Hosur Kukkappa Seetharan in the 1982 edition in New Delhi.
Barwal is also the fourth Indian to have ever won a medal in the Asian Games. Chhota Singh and Surat Singh Mathur had won a gold and bronze respectively in the inaugural Asian Games in 1951 in New Delhi.
It is an incredible achievement for Barwal as this is his second national record in as many races in his career. He shifted to marathon only this year after competing in other long-distance races such as 5,000m, 10,000m and half marathon.
In April this year, he broke Shivnath Singh’s 48-year-old national record at the NN Marathon, Rotterdam, with a time of 2:11:58.
“The way I trained, the target was to finish with a medal, not to better my national record. But, it was also a national record. I am very happy to have won a medal for the country, that too after a long time (1982),” Barwal told PTI after the gruelling race.
Running under a mild temperature of 21 degree celsius with a bit of wind and drizzle in between, Barwal was leading the pack for a while.
At the halfway mark, he had moved up to second place with a timing of 1:05:54. After the 35km mark, only the top three runners, including Barwal, were in the front.
Hailing from Joginder Nagar in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh, Barwal’s father Kuldeep worked as a driver in New Delhi while mother Subhadra Devi is a homemaker.
No hat-trick of gold for Toor
However, 31-year-old Toor’s bid for a hat-trick of Asian Games gold medals ended in a silver as he battled tricky wet conditions due to incessant drizzle throughout the day.
Toor produced a best throw of 20.64m to finish second and claim his third successive Asian Games medal.
Iran’s Mohammadreza Tayebise took the gold with a Games record throw of 20.81m, bettering Toor’s previous mark of 20.75m set in 2018. Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Tolu won the bronze with an effort of 20.48m.
The silver adds to Toor’s gold medals from Jakarta in 2018 and Hangzhou in 2022, but also saw his Games record fall as Tayebise bettered the 20.75m mark he had set eight years ago.
“I was aiming for hat-trick of gold medals. My body was feeling good, I was going strong. I was confident that I can throw my best till the sixth attempt and achieve 21m. So I am a bit disappointed and not satisfied with my performance,” the Punjab athlete said.
“AFI put confidence in me and told me to give my best and that I had the capacity to win gold. I could not do it but I won a silver for India and a medal is medal,” said Toor, whose personal best mark is 21.77m, set in 2023.
Toor also said that he had been dealing with minor injuries in the build-up to the Games.
“For the last three months, I had been facing issues with minor injuries. With rain it was also difficult to have proper grip and there is fear of slipping while making the turn,” he said.
Bronze for Prachi
Running on a wet track, Prachi clocked 53.21 seconds to take the bronze. Bahrain’s star quarter-miler Salwa Naser, the pre-race overwhelming favourite, expectedly won the gold with a time of 49.20 seconds, leaving second-placed Zahra Zarei Manoujan (52.38 seconds) and Prachi far behind at the finishing line.
The 29-year-old Prachi, from a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur, has a personal and season’s best of 52.57 seconds.
“This is a very special medal for me because people kept on telling me that I can win medals only in relays. Today I have proved that I can also win medal in individual 400m also, that too in Asian Games,” said Prachi.
In the men’s 400m final, national record holder Vishal TK finished fifth, clocking 45.48 seconds.
Parul Chaudhary and Pooja Olla finished at fourth and sixth respectively in the women’s 1500m final, clocking 4 minute and 9.46 seconds and 4:16.78 respectively.
Meanwhile, national record holder Animesh Kujur qualified for the men’s 200m final round after finishing second in semifinals Heat 3 with a time of 20.81 seconds.
Nandhini Kongan also made it to the women’s 100m hurdles final after clocking 13.48 second to finish fourth in her heat.
PTI
