The opening day of the 20th Asian Athletics Championships at the Balewadi Sports Complex here brought mixed results for the hosts, who had to be content with two bronze medals. Out of the five events they competed in, India secured two third-place finishes courtesy Om Prakash (shotput) and Mayookha Johny (long jump).
Medal hope and ace discus thrower Krishna Poonia and 10,000m runner Preeja Sreedharan finished fourth. Amidst pouring rain, India opened their tally when Prakash’s effort of 19.45m in his second attempt seemed good enough for a gold but an effective fifth throws from Saudi Arabia’s Sultan Alheb (19.68) and Chinese Taipei’s 19.61 pushed him to the third place.
The women’s discus throw event proved to be a disappointment for India as both Poonia and Seema Antil failed to finish on the podium. Though Poonia was the only Indian thrower to clear the 55m mark, she fell short against the Chinese throwers, who bagged the first two positions with 55.88 and 55.70 distance. The third place was secured by Li Tsai-Yi of Taipei who registered 55.32m.
Mayookha, the defending champion in long jump, failed to retain her crown and in the process missed out on the World Championship berth.
“I was training in Bengaluru last week and sprained my ankle which affected my momentum. The weather made it difficult and I am sad I will not be able to make it to Moscow.”
Prakash, a former Asian Championship gold medallist, was happy to earn India the first medal but was disappointed to miss the gold. “My aim was to go for gold but the conditions were tough. I wanted to throw over 20m but have been carrying an injury post the London Olympics, and that has taken a lot of time for me to find the rhythm,” said Prakash.
Poonia, meanwhile, said she was not fully fit for the event but participated as she was one of the star Indian athletes.
Chaos mars opening day
Finding out the winners post their competitions at a showpiece event like the Asian Championships should not be a difficult task but on a chaotic opening day, the organisers grappled with something as basic as announcing the medallists. With the giant screen failing to display the scores, a large contingent of the media and fans were left to grope in the dark.
Even the elite athletes struggled to know their timing and places. CWG gold medallist Poonia was under the impression that she had finished third but as it turned out later, the Indian discus thrower had missed the bronze and finished fourth instead.