Asian Games: Hima, Anas, Dutee make it a productive day for India

Jakarta: India won three silver medals, but missed out on a bronze on the second day of the Asian Games athletics competition at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium here on Sunday.

Dutee Chand won silver in women's 100m dash in photo-finish after quarter-milers Muhammed Anas and Hima Das clinched sliver, while G Lakshmanan, who had ended third in men’s 10,000m, was disqualified for stepping out of the track in one of the laps.

Hima delivers

World under-20 champion Hima was expected to win a medal and the 18-year-old from Assam did not disappoint as she bettered the national record for the second successive day in the 400m final. Hima’s personal best of 50.79 seconds was not enough to stop Bahrain’s naturalised star Salwa Eid Naser from winning the gold.

Salwa romped home with a new Games record of 50.09. She had broken the Games record in Saturday’s semifinal race too. Kazakhstan’s Elina Mikhina won the bronze in 52.63, while India’s Nirmala Sheoran (52.96) could only end up fourth.

Anas delivered under pressure to end up on the podium behind Qatar’s Abdalelah Hassan. Anas timed 45.69, while Hassan clocked 44.89. Bahrain’s Ali Khamis (45.70) came third ahead of India’s Arokia Rajiv 45.84.

The 23-year-old Anas made up for the disappointment of missing out on a medal at the Commonwealth Games earlier this year as he came up with an inspired race.

Dutee clinched the silver in an exciting 100m dash. The Odisha girl came second in 11.32 behind Bahrain’s Edidiong Odiong (11.30). Yongli Wei of China won the bronze in 11.33.

China’s Bingtian Su emerged the sprint king as he won the 100m gold with a Games record of 9.92. Qatar’s Tosin Ogunode and Japan’s Ryota Yamagata (10) finished second and third after a photo-finish.

Heartbreak for Lakshmanan

It was heartbreak for Lakshmanan as an inadvertent mistake proved costly for him. The 28-year-old from Tamil Nadu clocked 29:44.91 and had ended third. But the officials ruled that he had stepped out of the track during one of the laps and disqualified him.

Bahrain’s Hassan Chani (28:35.34) won the gold, while compatriot Abraham Cheroben (29.00.29) took the silver. China’s Changhong Zhao (30:07.49) got the lucky break as he won the bronze, thanks to Lakshmanan’s error.

Sreeshankar ends sixth

Keralite teenager M Sreeshankar ended sixth in men’s long jump with an effort of 7.95m. China’s Jianan Wang reigned supreme with a Games record of 8.24 m, while compatriot Yaoguang Zhang came up with a season’s best of 8.15 to clinch the silver. Indonesia’s Sapwaturrahman bagged the bronze with a personal best of 8.09m.