Asian Athletics: India sign off with 24 medals; Sachin, Parul, women's relay team win silver
Gumi (South Korea), May 31 (PTI): A new national record, a string of personal bests, and six final-day medals capped India's campaign at the 26th Asian Athletics Championships with the country signing off with a total haul of 24 medals here on Saturday.
While gold proved elusive on the final day, Indian athletes delivered a series of gritty performances to secure three silver and as many bronze medals.
Parul Chaudhary claimed her second silver of the meet with a strong run in the women's 5000m, clocking 15:15.33s to finish second, adding to the silver she had earlier won in the 3000m steeplechase.
While javelin thrower Sachin Yadav earned his silver with a personal best effort, the women's 4x100m relay team, featuring Abinaya Rajarajan, Sneha SS, Srabani Nanda, and Nithya Gandhe, clocked a season-best 43.86s to bag India's final silver.
Sprinter Animesh Kujur blazed to a national record of 20.32s to clinch a a bronze in the men's 200m for India.
Middle distance runner Pooja recorded a personal best to take bronze in the women's 800m, while Asian Games medallist Vithya Ramraj secured the third place in the women's 400m hurdles.
India thus wrapped up the championships with 8 gold, 10 silver, and 6 bronze medals.
While the overall count fell short of the 27 medals won in the previous edition, the contingent has improved on the gold tally, increasing it from 6 to 8.
India finished second in the medal tally behind China (19 gold, 9 silver, 4 bronze), marking the country’s best performance since the 2017 edition in Bhubaneswar, where it topped the standings with 29 medals (10 gold, 6 silver, 13 bronze).
Japan finished third with 5 gold, 11 silver and 12 bronze.
Personal bests for Sachin and Yashvir
In the absence of two-time Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra, both the Indian javelin throwers produced personal best efforts.
Rising star Sachin sent his spear to 85.16m in his last attempt to finish behind Pakistan's reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem, who was appearing in his first competition since the Paris Games last year. The Pakistani fetched the gold with a 86.40m throw.
Competing in his maiden major international meet, Sachin narrowly missed the World Championships qualification mark of 85.50m, and blamed his twin injuries -- to the ankle and shoulder -- for the shortfall.
“I’m not satisfied, but yes, I’ll go back with a medal and a personal best,” said the 25-year-old, who had a previous personal best of 84.39m.
Asked whether he could breach the qualifying mark in the next 2-3 months, with the World Championships scheduled in Tokyo this September, he remained hopeful.
“Once I return, I’ll give my all in training. I’ve made some mistakes that affected my preparation. For instance, I had injuries -- first in my ankle, then in my shoulder -- which prevented me from training properly,” he said.
“I can’t say exactly how much time I’ll need, but I will try to give my best in the next competition and aim to qualify with a good distance,” added Sachin who hails from a farmer's family at Khekra village near Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh.
Fellow Indian Yashvir Singh also impressed with a personal best of 82.57m for a fifth-place finish.
Kujur wins India's first men's sprint medal in a decade
India's first medal of the day came through Kujur, who ended a decade-long wait for the country in the men’s 200m with a bronze.
It was India's first in the event since Dharambir Singh's bronze in the 2015 edition.
The 21-year-old from Odisha delivered a standout performance, clocking a national record of 20.32 seconds, bettering his own mark of 20.40s set earlier this year at the National Federation Senior Athletics Competition.
Highly impressed with Animesh Kujur’s rapid progress, Adille J Sumariwalla, former president of the Athletics Federation of India and a former sprinter himself, hailed the youngster as one of the best in the country.
"He’s an absolutely outstanding athlete. He’s doing very, very well. And if he can just improve his start a little more, he’ll be almost impossible to beat,” Sumariwalla said.
"He’s one of those very, very talented sprinters among the best I’ve seen in India."
Japan's Towa Uzawa won gold with a time of 20.12s, while Saudi Arabia's Abdulaziz Abdu I Atafi took silver in 20.31s.
Bronze for Vithya, Pooja
Asian Games medallist bronze Vithya sailed smoothly over the women's 400m hurdles to finish on the third step of the podium. The 26-year-old Tamil Nadu athlete clocked 56.46s to finish on the podium.
China's Mo Jiadie clinched gold in 55.31s, edging out Bahrain's Oluwakemi Adekoya, who finished second in 55.32s. Anu Raghavan, the other Indian in the race, was placed seventh with 57.46s.
Pooja grabbed India's third bronze of the day as she finished the women's 800m with a personal best of 2:01.89s.
In the women's 200m final, Jyoti Yarraji finished fifth with a time of 23.47s, while Nithya Gandhe came seventh in 23.90s. Yarraji had won gold in the women's 100m hurdles earlier in the week.
In the men's 800m, Krishan Kumar and Anu Kumar finished seventh and eight respectively.
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Rupee plunges 28 paise to settle at 93.44 against US dollar
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee declined 28 paise to close at 93.44 against the US dollar on Tuesday, weighed down by a steady American currency and volatile crude oil prices amid uncertainties over the progress of West Asia peace negotiations.
Positive domestic equity markets failed to boost local currency, which also had some impact of the Reserve Bank's latest move to ease curbs on speculative bets in non-deliverable forward markets, forex analysts said.
The Reserve Bank on Monday partially withdrew directives taken on April 1 to curb excessive speculation in the rupee. The banking regulator had capped the net open positions in non-deliverable forward markets at USD 100 million, mandating banks to comply by April 10.
Under revised directives, authorised dealers or banks can resume offering non-deliverable derivative contracts involving INR to resident or non-resident users, but must comply with certain restrictions on related-party transactions. Also, the USD 100-million cap in net open position is still effective.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 93.25 and fell to an intra-day low of 93.63 before ending the session 28 paise lower at 93.44 against the greenback.
On Monday, the rupee settled with a loss of 25 paise at 93.16 against the US dollar. The currency had gained 47 paise in the preceding two sessions.
Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Mirae Asset ShareKhan, said the rupee fell on uncertainty over US-Iran talks and a surge in crude oil prices. A strong dollar also pressured the rupee; however, positive global markets cushioned the downside.
"Traders may take cues from retail sales and ADP employment change data from the US. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 93.30 to Rs 93.90," Choudhary said.
Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst - Commodity and Currency, LKP Securities, said the rupee traded weaker as recent RBI adjustments and partial rollback of earlier currency-support measures added pressure on the local unit.
"At the same time, the dollar remains steady while crude and gold are relatively stable, with markets closely watching the outcome of US-Iran ceasefire developments expected tomorrow. The rupee is likely to remain highly event-driven, with direction dependent on geopolitical clarity and RBI stance," Trivedi said.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.19 per cent to 98.09.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.70 per cent down at USD 94.81 per barrel in futures trade.
Analysts attributed the volatility in crude prices to persistent worries over disruptions of supplies of oil from the Strait of Hormuz. Also, the ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran is scheduled to expire on Wednesday.
In a latest development, Iran's chief negotiator on Tuesday said Tehran would not negotiate in the face of threats, while US President Donald Trump hinted that he was in no rush to end the conflict with Iran.
In the domestic equity markets the 30-share Sensex rose 753.03 points, or 0.96 per cent, to settle at 79,273.33, while the Nifty rose 211.75 points, or 0.87 per cent, to 24,576.60.
Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth about Rs 1,918.99 crore on Tuesday, according to the exchange data.
