There was joy in watching Indian track and field athletes highlight intense fighting abilities on the penultimate day of the Asian Athletics Championships at the National Stadium in Bangkok on Saturday. The mixed relay team led the way with gold, Amoj Jacob and Subha Venkatesan showcasing an ability to hold their nerve under pressure and regain lost ground.
M Sreeshankar (men’s Long Jump), Sarvesh Anil Kumar (men’s High Jump) and Heptathlete Swapna Barman were not far behind in turning in performances that highlighted their calm temperament, and won them a silver medal each. In fact, it was T Santhosh Kumar who set the ball rolling with a memorable fightback to win the mens’s 400m Hurdles bronze.
India finished the penultimate day with a haul of six gold, four silver, four bronze for a total of 14 medals in four days to be behind Japan (11 gold, 10 silver, eight bronze, 29 total) and ahead of China (5, 7, 4, 16). India will hope that the team rakes in a few more medals on the final day to cap its best showing in the continental championships, away from India, since the year 2000.
In getting 8.37m on his last attempt, Sreeshankar showcased his temperament in top-notch competition. He gave it his all and everything seemed to fall in place as he hung in the air for a long time to achieve his best jump on international soil. As he exited the pit, he let out a roar in the belief that he may have done enough to snatch gold, but that was not to be.
Sreeshankar opened with 8.10m, a distance matched by Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu Tang. The Indian lost the lead when he recorded a no-mark on his second try but regained his place at the top with an 8.12m jump on his third attempt. Lin Yu Tang then responded with an 8.40m jump, improving his personal best by a whopping 28cm.
Sarvesh cleared the bar on the first attempt at each of the five heights from 2.05m to 2.23m before he faced some difficulty in registering his season’s best in clearing 2.26m. He sought gamely to get his personal best, and all but succeeded in clearing 2.29m on his third attempt, dislodging the bar after his torso had passed over it.
Swapna Barman tried to present Yekaterina Voronina a challenge in the Heptathlon but Uzbekistan’s defending champion held her own through the three events on the second day. The Indian ace finished on the podium for the third time in a row, taking her second silver after having won gold in Bhubaneswar in 2017.
Santhosh Kumar set the ball rolling for India by running a very good second half of the 400m Hurdles final and earning himself bronze with his best time in 2023. In the absence of Yashas Palaksha, his faster team-mate who did not start the final, Santhosh did well to hold his nerve despite having drawn one of the outer lanes and lying sixth at the halfway mark.
Jyothi Yarraji stayed on course for her second medal in the competition, topping the women’s 200m semifinals with the fastest time. With the 100m Hurdles gold already under her belt and refreshed after a day’s break, she turned up for the semifinals and she delivered a dominant race, her time of 23.52 seconds indicating that she can find her personal best on Sunday.
Krishan Kumar timed his kick to perfection and won the second heats in 1:48.97 to enter the men’s 800m final. Though Mohammed Afsal clocked a faster time in the earlier heats, finishing third in 1:48.86, he had to wait for the completion of all three heats to be assured of a spot in the start list for the final.
Similarly, there would be two Indians in the women’s 800m final. Chanda ran a well-paced race to win the faster of the two heats in 2:04.55 and could be in the frame for a podium finish on Sunday. Lavika Sharma fought hard to be in third place after 700m but faded to fourth. She was one of the two fastest runners from among those who did not get an automatic place in the final
The results (finals):
Men
400m Hurdles: 1. Bassemm Mohamed Hameida (Qatar) 48.64 seconds; 2. Yusaku Kodama (Japan) 48.96; 3. T Santhosh Kumar (India) 49.09; Yashas Palaksha Did Not Start.
Long Jump: 1. Lin Yu Tang (Chinese Taipei) 8.40m; 2. M Sreeshankar (India) 8.37; 3. Zhang Mingkum (China) 8.08.
High Jump: 1. Woo Sanghyeok (Korea) 2.28; 2. Sarvesh Anil Kushare (India) 2.26; 3. Tawan Kaeodam (Thailand) 2.26; 7. Tejaswin Shankar 2.10\
Discus Throw: 1. Abuduaini Tuergong (China) 61.19m; 2. Eissa Zinkawi (KuwaiT) 60.23; 3. Muhammad Irfan Bin Shamshuddin (Malaysia) 59.63.
Women
400m Hurdles: 1. Robyn Lauren Brown (Philippines) 57.50; 2. Eri Utsunomiya (Japan) 57.73; 3. Ami Yamamoto (Japan) 57.80.
Heptathlon: 1. Ekaterina Veronina (Uzbekistan) 6098 points (100H: 14.62; HJ: 1.77; SP: 13.19; 200: 25.13; LJ: 6.07; JT: 51.87; 800: 2:15.68); 2. Swapna Barman (India) 5840 (100H: 14.62; HJ: 1.80; SP: 11.96; 200: 26.26; LJ: 5.84; JT: 51.09; 800: 2:24.32); 3: Yuki Yamasaki (Japan) 5696.
Mixed
4x400m Relay: 1. India (Rajesh Ramesh, Aishwarya Kailash Mishra, Amoj Jacob, Subha Venkatesan) 3:14.70; 2. Sri Lanka 3:15.41; 3. Japan 3:15.71.
Other results (Indians only)
Men
800m: Mohammed Afsal 1:48.85 (qualified for final); Krishan Kumar 1:48.97 (Qualified for final).
4x400m First round: India (Amoj Jacob, Nihal Joel William, Mijo Chacko Kurian, Rahul Ramesh Kadam) 3:04.38 (Qualified for final).
Women
200m Semifinals: Jyothi Yarraji 23.52 seconds (Qualified for final); First round: Jyothi Yarraji 23.85.
800m: Chanda 2:04.55 (Qualified for final); Lavika Sharma 2:09.07 (qualified for final).