Hangzhou, (UNI) Tajinderpal Singh Toor and Avinash Sable led the athletics medal rush for India on Day 8 of the 2023 Asian Games here on Sunday.
Avinash Sable was the first athlete for India to grab a medal in the track and field after he clocked 8:19.53 in the men’s 3000m steeplechase final to obtain gold. This also was his new Asian Games record.
The 29-year-old Indian runner had won the silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Japan’s Ryoma Aoki and Seiya Sunada settled for the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
Meanwhile, India’s men’s shot putter Tajinderpal threw 20.36m in the final, and bagged gold. The 28-year-old Indian shot-putter successfully defended his title at the 2018 Asian Games. He also holds the Asian (21.77m) and Asian Games (20.75m) records.
Parduman Singh Brar, Joginder Singh, Bahadur Singh Chouhan and Tajinderpal Singh Toor – the Indian shot putters who have defended an Asian Games gold medal.
Sahib Singh, meanwhile, finished eighth with 18.62 meters after his six best attempts at Hangzhou. Saudi Arabia’s Mohamed Daouda Tolo claimed the silver while China’s Liu Yang settled for the bronze medal in the men’s shot put final.
In the men’s 200m semifinal, Amlan Borgohain clocked 21.03 in the semifinal and zoomed into the final as a non-automatic qualifier. The 25-year-old sprinter will be in action tomorrow at 5:25 PM IST.
India’s Ajay Kumar Saroj and Jinson Johnson also made India proud by winning silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the men’s 1500m final at the Asian Games 2023.
Reigning Asian champion Ajay Kumar clocked 3:38.94, while the 2018 Asian Games gold medallist Jinson Johson finished with a time of 3:39.74. Qatar’s Mohamad Algarni won gold with a season-best time of 3:38.36.
Meanwhile, Harmilan Bains added another medal to India’s athletics tally, a silver, in the women’s 1500m final at the Asian Games 2023. She clocked 4:12.74 in the final.
The 25-year-old Harmilan returned from injury in February this year after missing the Commonwealth Games and the World Championships in 2022.
Indian long jumper Murali Sreeshankar bagged the silver medal with a best of 8.19m at the Asian Games 2023. The 24-year-old jumped just 0.3m short of the gold medal winner Wang Jianan from China.
Sreeshankar also won the silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Jeswin Aldrin, meanwhile, finished eighth (7.76m) in the men’s long jump final at Hangzhou.
In the women’s heptathlon, Nandini Agasara won the 800m race with a personal best time of 2:15.33 and won the bronze medal after seven events. She notched personal best scores in the 200m race and javelin throw too. Swapna Barman fell just four points shy of her compatriot to finish fourth at the Asian Games 2023.
Seema Punia hurled a season-best 58.62m in the women’s discus throw final, winning the bronze medal at Hangzhou 2023. The 40-year-old Seema Punia completed a hat-trick of Asian Games medals – gold in 2014, bronze in 2018 and bronze in 2023.
