Asian U20 Athletics: Shahnavaz Khan dominates men's long jump, India's gold medal tally swells to seven
Hong Kong, May 30
Indian athletes added three more gold medals to the tally on the penultimate day of the 22nd Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong on Saturday. Nikhil Chandrashekar, Basant, and Shahnavaz Khan swelled the Indian gold medal tally to seven. India won four gold medals on Friday.
Nikhil Chandrashekar sprinted home to victory in the men's 3000m steeplechase. His winning time of 9:25.44 seconds was a personal best.
Shahnavaz Khan added a second gold medal as he dominated the men's long jump. His best jump of the day was 7.84m. Compatriot Jithin Arjunan Raman Chandrasekaran won silver with a jump of 7.66m. India's third gold on Saturday came through Basant in the men's high jump. He cleared 2.20m.
Aarti added bronze to the medal tally. She finished third in the women's 200m with a time of 24.12 seconds, a personal best. Bhumika Sanjay Nehate finished a close fourth with a time of 24.13 secs. In the women's javelin throw, India's Poonam finished eighth with a throw of 46.55m.
China is leading the medal tally with ten gold medals. India, with seven golds, is currently second on the table.
Earlier on Friday, India's talented high jumper Pooja improved the national and meet record on the second day of the 22nd Asian U20 Athletics Championships being held in Hong Kong.
On her way to winning the gold medal with a jump of 1.93m, Pooja improved the decade-old national record of 1.92m set by Sahana Kumari in 2012. Pooja's performance on Friday was also better than the previous Asian U20 meet record of 1.90m set by Svetlana Radzivil of Uzbekistan in 2006.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Great to see Indian athletes excelling at the Asian level. Shahnavaz's 7.84m jump is impressive, but I hope our long jumpers can aim for 8m+ to compete globally. The future looks bright though!
Excellent performance by Pooja in high jump – breaking the national record that stood for over a decade AND the meet record! 1.93m is world-class for a U20 athlete. More support needed for grassroots athletics in India. 👏
Brilliant show from our young guns! Basant clearing 2.20m in high jump is phenomenal. And Aarti's bronze in 200m with a personal best – so close to silver! The future of Indian athletics is very promising. 🇮🇳
Impressive medal haul for India. But I'm a bit concerned about the gap with China – 10 golds vs 7. We need better infrastructure and coaching to close that gap. Still, great to see personal bests from so many athletes!
What a fantastic achievement by our young athletes! Shahnavaz and Jithin making it a 1-2 finish in long jump is amazing. Pooja's national record is the icing on the cake. Indian athletics is on the rise! ✨
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