BHUBANESWAR: Sudha Singh is proving to be like the proverbial wine which grows finer with time. The 31-year-old had held the national record in 3000m steeplechase for seven years, but could never make it to the top of podium in the Asian Championship. She broke that jinx at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Friday by cruising to the finish unchallenged in 9:59.47.
Before this, Sudha had thrice reached within striking distance of Asian Championship gold. But all she could manage was silver all three times. Sudha ran an one-horse race and sauntered to the finishing line with nearby opponent lagging by well over 30m. After the feat, she touched the ground with her forehead, offering her gratitude to the gods and then ran a lap of honour, covered in the tricolour.
“I am very happy with the results. This was my first big event after the Olympics. Now I want to do a good race in World Championships in London and reclaim the national record,” she said.
Indian women quartet of Merlin K Joseph, Himashree Roy, Srabani Nanda and Dutee Chand won a bronze in 4x100m relay. They clocked 44.57s to finish behind Kazakhstan and China.
Anu R of Kerala gave India a silver in the women’s 400m hurdles. The 23-year-old, finished behind Nguyen Thi of Vietnam clocking 57.22s. Sheena NV contributed to the medal tally by finishing third in the women’s triple jump. Jabir M P, also from Kerala, won a bronze in men’s 400m hurdles in 50.22s.
Syrian wins bronze
Majed Addin Gazal from war-ton Syria won bronze in men’s high jump with an effort of 2.24m.