CHENNAI: It was quite an eventful day in Gumi, not just for the Indian athletes who had some commendable outings but also the conditions. It rained and rained, literally during the Asian Athletics Championships on Wednesday. Suddenly the conditions turned hostile and the torrential downpour forced athletes off the track, something not always seen during athletics. Yet India managed a handful of good shows on the track as well as on the field.
Praveen Chithravel felt the vagaries of nature to finish second while Tejaswin Shankar missed out on gold by a whisker. Rupal Chaudhury finished second in 400m while the mixed relay team (Santhosh KT, Rupa Chaudhary, Vishal TK, Subha Venkatesan) won gold, the second for the country.
The rain did affect a few of the events as well. One athlete who had to stop his vocation midway was Chithravel who ended with a silver in triple jump. He along with his teammate Abdullah Abubakar were midway into their competition when the event was halted due to rain. Because of Chithravel's recent record, he managed 17.37m national record-equalling feat at the Federation Athletics Championships, he was one of the favourites to win gold along with Abubaker.
However, Chithravel could jump 16.90 metres and could not overtake China's Zhu Yaming (17.06m).
The 17.37m jump in Kochi has already earned him a spot at the World Athletics Championship in Tokyo. Yet he wanted to improve at Gumi. Chithravel explained during an online press interaction about the challenging conditions. He said that he was getting warmed up and his third jump was the best in the series and was looking to better that. However, because of the heavy rain he could not get back his rhythm.
“The local weather conditions were good at the start but then it rained and became challenging to keep the body warmed up,” Chithravel said. He said that it takes time to get warmed up after a break of 40-45 minutes.
Tejaswin heroics
The ever dependable 25-year-old Subha Venkatesan anchored the Indian 4x400m mixed relay team to victory. Other members of the victorious Indian mixed 4x400m relay team were Santhosh KT, Rupal Chaudhary and Vishal TK. The team clocked 3:18.12 seconds.
Tejaswin Shankar was close to winning India's third gold medal in a gruelling two-day decathlon but missed by a slender margin. Shankar said his goal in Gumi was to secure a medal, “at the end of the day what matters is a medal at the continental level.” He further elucidated his events. "I've not done that great with javelin and shot put, but with the track events, I feel I've done well. Mentally, it has been a rollercoaster ride, as I had different ways to prepare," he added. With Asian medal secured, Tejaswin would be preparing for the next big challenges and perhaps the world championships later this year.
On Day 3, long jumpers Shaili Singh and Ancy Sojan, defending gold medallist in hurdles Jyothi Yarraji and national record holder in steeplechase Avinash Sable will be keen to add more medals.
Results: Men's 400m: Ammar Ismail Ibrahim (Qatar) 45.33 seconds, Kentaro Sato (Japan) 45.50 seconds, Kalinga Kumarage Hewa K (Sri Lanka) 45.55 seconds, Vishal TK (India 4th) 45.57 seconds. 1500m: Kazuto Lizawa (Japan) 3:42.56 seconds, Jaeung Lee (Korea) 3:42.79 seconds, Yoonus Shah (India) 3:43.03. Triple jump: Zhu Yaming (China) 17.06m, Praveen Chithravel (India) 16.90m, Gyumin Yu (South Korea) 16.82m, Abdulla Aboobacker (India—4th) 16.72m. Decathlon: Fei Xiang (China) 7634 points, Tejaswin Shankar (India) 7618 points, Keisuke Okuda (Japan) 7602 points.
Women's 400m: Nanaka Matsumoto (Japan) 52.17 seconds, Rupal Chaudhary (India) 52.68 seconds, Jonbibi Hukmova (Uzbekistan) 52.79 seconds, Vithya Ramraj (India—4th) 53.00 seconds. 1500m: Li Chunhul (China) 4:10.58 seconds, Pooja (India) 4:10.83 seconds, Tomoka Kimura (Japan) 4:11.56 seconds, Lili Das (India 4th) 4:13.81 seconds. Mixed 4x400m relay: India (Santhosh KT, Rupa Chaudhary, Vishal TK, Subha Venkatesan) 3:18.12 seconds, Kazakhstan 3:22.70 seconds, South Korea 3:22.87 seconds.