Abhishek Pal could not have employed smarter racing strategy than on Wednesday to land India’s first medal in the Asian Athletics Championships at the National Stadium in Bangkok, and mark his own maiden trip to the podium in an international track event. Aware that Japan’s Ren Tazawa was in a league of his own, the 25-year-old from Amethi did well to keep Kazakhstan’s Shadrack Kimutai Koech in his sights and relied on his kick to earn the bronze medal.
Abhishek, who works for Railways, outsprinted Japan’s Yuto Imae and Gulveer Singh, his teammate, in the final lap but could not bridge the gap to the Kazakh. He produced his best time (29:33.26) in overseas conditions, the previous best (29:51.28) having come when he finished seventh in the last edition of the Asian Championships in Doha four years ago.
Though he was running a 10000m after four years, Koech drew on his marathon training to take silver behind Tazawa, who justified his billing as favourite with a mind-over-matter show of running 25 laps in challenging conditions. China’s Tainyu Chen, one of the two men who prevented Japanese from taking the top 100 places in the 10000m on the 2023 Asian list, found the heat and humidity too tough to handle and finished a distant seventh.
“I saw the second Japanese slowing down in the last two laps,” said Abhishek after the race. “I tracked him down and pushed hard in the last 400m to win bronze. The weather was okay at the start of the race but was unbearable in the second half. The bronze in the 10,000m has added to my confidence. I should do better in the 5,000m.”
Tejaswin Shankar, competing in his maiden Decathlon in India colours, put himself in medal contention by producing the best efforts in Long jump, High jump and 400m to hold the lead with 4124 points after five events. He could have had a bigger advantage over Thailand’s Suttisak Singkhon, but was unable to clear 2.17m in High jump, perhaps deciding to conserve his energy.
Yet, we must remember that he logged 4209 points on the first day in the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in the heat and humidity of Bhubaneswar last month. With the Discus Throw and Pole Vault not being his strongest suits, he will have to do really well in the 110m Hurdles on Thursday morning, and the Javelin Throw and 1500m later to finish with a medal.
Annu Rani came up with her second-best effort this year to be in the mix in the women’s Javelin Throw, but without getting to the 60m mark – and that has eluded her since she won bronze in the Commonwealth Games on August 7 last year – she had to be content with fourth place. Besides her best effort of 59.10m, she had three throws over 58m after having started with 55.31.
Having finished seventh in the World Championships with 61.12m, her decline has been palpable. However, the 30-year-old Annu, currently the World No. 15, may have done enough to find herself on the Road to Budapest list and find a spot in the World Athletics Championships next month.
In the women’s 1500m , the diminutive Lili Das stayed with the leaders for nearly three laps. But while Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka stepped up the pace and pulled away to a victory in Championship Record time, the Indian was unable to shift gears and faded into seventh place. Lili, who posted a 4:14.16 time in a quicker race in Oregon last month, finished in a disappointing 4:27.50.
There was heartening news from the men’s 400m semi-finals, where Rajesh Ramesh (45.91) and Muhammed Ajmal (45.76) produced sub-46-second times and qualified for the final, the latter finding a place as one of the two fastest runners who did not secure the automatic berths at stake in the two semi-finals. Aishwarya Kailash Mishra earned a place in Thursday’s women’s 400m final.
On the second day of competition, besides the two 400m finals and the Decathlon competition, all Indian eyes will be on Abdulla Aboobaker, the Commonwealth Games silver medallist in the Triple Jump, and Jyothi Yarraji, the young 100m Hurdles exponent. The return of Jinson Johnson to international competition will also hold a lot of interest.
The results (finals):
Men
10000m: 1. Ren Tazawa (Japan) 29:18:44; 2. Shadrack Kimutai Koech (Kazakhstan) 29:31.63; 3. Abhishek Pal (India) 29:33.26; 5. Gulveer Singh (India) 29:53.69.
4x100m Relay: 1. Thailand (Natawat Iamudom, Soraoat Dapbang, Chayut Khongprasit, Puripol Boonson) 38.55 seconds (New AAC Record. Old: 38.72, Thailand, Doha, 2019); 2. China 38.87; 3. Korea 38.99.
Women
1500m: 1. Nozomi Tanaka (Japan) 4:06.75 (New AAC Record. Old: 4:12.69, Miho Sugimori, Japan, Incheon, 2005); 2. Yume Goto (Japan) 4:13.25; 3. Gayanthika Artigala (Sri Lanka) 4:14.39; 7. Lili Das (India) 4:27.50.
Triple Jump: 1. Mariko Morimoto (Japan) 14.06m; 2. Zeng Rui (China) 14.01; 3. Nguyen Thi Huong (Vietnam) 13.68.
Javelin Throw: 1. Marina Saito (Japan) 61.67m; 2. Liu Shiyingh (China) 61.51; 3. Dilhani Lekamge (Sri Lanka) 60.93; 4. Annu Rani (India) 59.10.
4x100m Relay: 1. China (Liang Xiaojing, Wei Yongli, Yuan Qiqi, Ge Manqi) 43.35 seconds; 2. Japan 43.95; 3. Thailand 44.56.
Other results (Indians only):
Men
400m Semifinals: Rajesh Ramesh 45.91 seconds (Qualified for final); Muhammed Ajmal 45.76 (qualified for final). First round heats: Muhammed Ajmal 46.06; Rajesh Ramesh 46.45.
Decathlon: Tejaswin Shakar 4124 points (100: 11.30; LJ: 7.48; SP: 12.39; HJ: 2.14; 400: 49.57).
Women
400m First Round heats: Aishwarya Kailash Mishra 53.59 seconds (Qualified for final).