It turned out to be a tentative opening Day for India as it won only a bronze medal through long-distance runner Abhishek Pal who finished third in the
10,000m race at the Asian Athletics Championships 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday.
It was Abhishek Pal’s first international medal for India at a major competition. Competing under humid conditions at Suphachalasai National Stadium, the Indian closed his race in
29:33.26 to open country’s medal account at the Bangkok meet.
Abhishek Pal’s personal best is 28:54.98 clocked in Gujarat last year. The national record of 28:02.89 in 0,000m belongs to the Beijing 2008 Olympian Surendra Singh set 15 years ago.
Ren Tazawa of Japan won the 10,000m race in 29:18.44 and was followed by Shadrack Kimutai Koech of Kazakhstan, who timed his race in 29:31.63. India’s Gulveer Singh finished fifth
in the 16-man field with a timing of 29:53.69.
Women’s javelin thrower Annu Rani, who won silver at the last edition at Doha in 2019 with a 60.22 mark, missed out on a bronze after finishing fourth with a best attempt of 59.10m.
Annu Rani holds national record of 63.82m set last year but is yet to cross 60m this season.
Marina Saito of Japan logged a distance of 61.67m for the gold medal ahead of reigning Olympic champion Liu Shiying of China, who wasn’t far behind with 61.51m. Sri Lanka’s Dilhani
Lekamge clinched the bronze medal with her personal best of 60.93m.
In men’s 400m, India’s Muhammed Ajmal and Rajesh Ramesh made the cut for the eight-man final after finishing fourth and seventh, respectively, in the semi-finals. Muhammed Ajmal
clocked his season-best 45.76 while Rajesh Ramesh crossed the finish line in 45.91.
Lili Das came seventh in the women’s 1500m final with a timing of 4:27.61.
Tejaswin Shankar, meanwhile, is currently leading the men’s decathlon event with 4,124 points from five events. Tejaswin Shankar holds the national record in the men’s high jump and
also won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in his pet event. Tejaswin Shankar started competing in the decathlon last year.
The rest of five events in the men’s decathlon and the men’s 400m final will be held on Thursday.
The Asian Championships 2023 will conclude on Sunday.