It was disappointing day for India’s star sprinter Manikanta Hoblidhar, as he couldn’t progress to the next round due to a false start in the 60m heats.
India’s Aadrash Ram Jothi Shankar clinched bronze medal in the men’s high jump at the 12th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships that got underway at Chinese City of Tianjin on Friday. According to information reaching here Shankar’s best jump in Tianjin was 2.19m.
Shankar exuded confidence of winning a medal at the Asian Indoor on his debut. “A fortnight camp at Bhubaneswar’s Indoor Stadium played a big role in learning fundamentals of indoor competition,” Shankar said over the phone from Tianjin.
In the field of 14 competitors, the Indian jumper gradually moved towards his goal of winning a medal. As the competition progressed the race for gold was between two Japanese and Shankar.
Shankar cleared 2.15m in his second attempt and 2.19 in his third attempt. He made efforts to improve the colour of his medal, but missed all three attempts at 2.23m.
Japan’s Seko Yuto was the winner of gold with a height of 2.23m. Yuto’s compatriot Shinno Tomohiro clinched silver with a height of 2.19m.
India’s Praveen Chithravel, national record holder (outdoor) in men triple jump fell short of medal. Chithravel finished fourth with a distance of 16.22m, which was achieved in the sixth and last attempt.
It was a clean sweep for Chinese athletes in the men’s triple jump. Su Wen was the winner of gold with a distance of 16.55m. While Jiao Xinping (16.47m) and Ma Yinglong (16.45m) won silver and bronze, respectively.
Chinese athletes also dominated the women’s shot put. India’s Yogita finished fourth with a distance of 15.33m, achieved in second attempt.
Earlier, Manikanta Hoblidhar, a promising sprinter and former national record holder in men’s 100m (outdoor), couldn’t progress to the next round as he was disqualified for a false start in the 60m heats.
EOM
