BHUBANESWAR: Three Indian athletes -- Swapna Barman, Purnima Hemram and Liksy Joseph -- are leading the rank tables of Heptathlon competition at the 22nd Asian Athletic Championships here.
The last of the seven events is scheduled for Sunday evening.
Heptathlon is an athletic competition, which combines seven track and field events. The athletes score points for each event based on their performance. The one with the highest score at the end of all seven events wins.
Before the final event, which is an 800-metre race, Swapana, Purnima and Liksy were ranked 1st, 3rd and 4th respectively.
Swapna earned 5066 points after completing the first six events. Odia athlete Purnima scored 4922 points, while the defending silver medalist Liksy Joseph earned 4693 points. Japanese athlete MEG Hemphill is ranked second at present with 5005 points.
Purnima scored 1014 points in 100-metre hurdles; 867 points in High Jump; 651 points in Shot Put; 900 points in 200-metre race; 840 points in Long Jump and 650 points in Javelin Throw -- the first six events.
Although she stood second after completing the first five events, her below-par performance in the sixth event -- Javelin Throw -- dragged her down to the third place.
However, she is the favourite to win the final event, the 800-metre race, which will be held on Sunday evening.
Purnima had won a bronze medal in the 21st edition of the Asian Athletics Championships held at Wuhan in China in 2015. She is expecting a podium finish at her home ground on Sunday.