Asiad: Sojan, Parul continue medal-winning spree for India in athletics
Hangzhou, Oct 2 : India continued with their medal-winning spree for the second day in the athletics event, with Ancy Sojan Edappilly and Parul Chaudhary, notching up silver medals at the Asian Games 2023 here on Monday.
Sojan leapt a personal best of 6.63m in the fifth attempt to claim the women’s long jump silver medal after failing to clinch any medal at the Asian Championships this year.
Shaili Singh, on the other hand, finished fifth as she could not push her case in the medals contention because her coach felt she was taking a leap far behind the legal line.
Meanwhile, India’s 4×400 mixed relay team etched a new national record after Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi, Vithya Ramraj, Rajesh Ramesh and Subha Venkatesan clocked 3:14.34 to bag silver.
Initially, India finished the race third, but their finish was upgraded to the silver finish due to lane infringement by Sri Lanka.
In another athletic event, Parul Chaudhary and Priti Lamba won silver and bronze, respectively in the women’s 3000m steeplechase final.
Parul clocked 9:27.63 and Priti clocked a personal best time of 9:43.32, making it an Indian double podium. She had finished fourth in the event at the Asian Championships earlier this year.
Bahrain’s Yavi Winfred Mutile won the gold medal with an Asian Games record time of 9:18.28.
The women’s 3000m steeplechase silver and bronze are India’s 13th and 14th athletics medals at Hangzhou.
The 28-year-old Parul holds the national record with a timing of 9:15.31, achieved at the World Athletics Championships 2023 in Budapest.
Meanwhile, Indian sprinters Amlan Borgohain, Pavithra Vengatesh missed out on medals. Amlan, a 100m and 200m national record holder, clocked 20.98 seconds and finished sixth in the men’s 200m final.
Japan’s Koki Ueyama, an Asian Championships bronze medallist, upgraded to gold with a time of 20.60 at Hangzhou. Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Abdullah Abkar and Chinese Taipei’s Yang Chun-Han bagged silver and bronze, respectively.
In the women’s pole vault final, the 21-year-old Pavithra Vengatesh could only clear the 4.00m mark, ranking sixth on her Asian Games debut.
Meanwhile, robotics has also made its appearance at the Hangzhou games, with robot dogs helping retrieve discuses.
