Asian Championships: Abhishek Pal walks away with bronze

Bangkok, July 12

Abhishek Pal opened India’s medal account in the Asian Athletics Championships with a bronze in the 10,000 metres race walk here today.

The-25-year-old from the Indian Army clocked 29 minutes, 33.26 seconds to finish behind Ren Tazawa (29.18.44) of Japan and Koech Kimutai Shadrack (29:31.63) of Kazakhstan.

Pal and compatriot Gulveer Singh stayed behind the leading runners for almost the entire race. Pal, however, pushed hard in the last lap and overtook a tiring Yuto Imae of Japan to cross the finish line in third place.

“I saw Imae slowing down in the last two laps. I gradually tracked him down and pushed hard in the last 400m to win bronze,” Pal said. “The weather was okay at the start of the race, but was unbearable in the second half,” he added. “The bronze has added to my confidence. I should do better in the 5,000m race.”

Expectations were high in the women’s javelin throw but the experienced Annu Rani missed the podium, finishing fourth with a throw of 59.10m. Annu had won silver (60.22m) in 2019. Japan’s Marina Saito (61.67m) won gold, while China’s Liu Shiying (61.51m) clinched silver. Sri Lanka’s Nadeesha Dilhani (60.93m) won bronze.

In the women’s 1500m, India’s Lili Das finished seventh in a time of 4:27.61. Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka (4:06.75) and Yume Goto (4:13.25) won gold and silver, respectively.

Rudransh clinches another gold

Osijek: Para-shooter Rudransh Khandelwal added a second gold medal to his name, finishing on top in the P1 men’s 10m air pistol SH1 category on the concluding day of the World Cup here today. The 16-year-old shot 240.6 in the final for a junior world record and also beat the challenge of compatriot Manish Narwal, who won silver with 236.4 points, while Santosh Gadhe made it an all-India affair by winning the bronze with a score of 211.7.

Kathuniya seals Paralympics quota

Paris: Yogesh Kathuniya became the third Indian to grab a quota for the 2024 Paris Paralympics after securing the silver medal in the F56 discus throw event at the World Para Athletics Championships here. The 26-year-old claimed silver with an effort of 43.17m. PTI