Ace shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor and steeplechaser Parul Chaudhary took top podium positions while long Jumper Shaili Singh finished second as India’s medal tally went up to nine (Five gold, one silver ,three bronze)at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday.
Toor heaved his best throw of the day on his second attempt to retain his continental title. He started with 19.80m and followed it up with 20.23m. The 28-year-old Indian did not go for the rest of his four attempts and limped out of the event with a groin injury.
Toor, who is also the reigning Asian Games champion and Asian indoor championships gold medalist, holds the Asian and national record of 21.77m set in Bhubaneswar last month. He also won the gold medal at the last edition of the Asian championships held in Doha four years ago. He claimed a silver at the 2017 edition held in Bhubaneswar.
He has participated in seven competitions in 2023 and has clinched gold medals in all of them. Mehdi Saberi of Iran bagged the silver medal in Bangkok with a 19.98m throw while Kazakhstan’s Ivan Ivanov claimed the bronze with 19.87m.
Meanwhile, Parul Chaudhary, won her first gold medal at the Asian championships, in the women’s 3000m steeplechase in 9:38.76 to win her race ahead of of China’s Xu Shuangshuang (9:44.54) and Japan’s Reimi Yoshimura (9:48.48). India’s Priti finished fourth in 9:48.50.
The 28-year-old Indian had won bronze in the 5000m in 2019 but had missed the podium twice in the 3000m steeplechase. She finished fourth in 2017 and fifth in 2019.
The 19-year-old Shaili Singh claimed silver in the women’s long jump event with a 6.54m effort. Shaili Singh, who won silver at the 2021 world U20 championships, produced her best effort with her first attempt and was leading the leaderboards at the halfway stage.
Reigning Asian indoor champion, Japan’s Sumire Hata came up with a personal best of 6.97m on her final attempt and went on to win the gold medal. Zhong Jiawei of China pipped India’s 2022 national champion Ancy Sojan for third place, clearing 6.46m. Ancy Sojan could manage only 6.41m.
In the men’s 3,000m steeplechase, Bal Kishan finished fourth with a timing of 8:46.98. Mohammed Nurhasan pulled out of the race midway and did not finish (DNF).
The three medals on the third day took India’s tally to nine at the Asian championships which include five gold medals. Hurdler Jyothi Yarraji, triple jumper Abdulla Aboobacker and middle-distance runner Ajay Kumar Saroj topped the podium on Thursday.