India win four medals in athletics, hold on to fifth spot at Asian Youth Games
_vb_19.jpeg)
Riffa (PTI): India's athletics contingent ensured a steady flow of medals, grabbing four podium finishes including two silver through Edwina Jason and Oshin, to maintain the country's fifth position at the ongoing Asian Youth Games, here on Friday.
With two silver and two bronze from the track and field events, India's overall tally rose to two gold, five silver and eight bronze medals (2-5-8) at the continental event.
In the girls' 400m final, Edwina Jason clocked 55.43 seconds to clinch the silver medal, finishing 1.17 seconds behind Aisha Tariq of the UAE, who took gold. Wu Chia-Ying of Chinese Taipei claimed the bronze in 56.60 seconds.
In the girls' discus throw, Oshin added another silver for India with a best effort of 43.38m. Xinyi Wang of China dominated the event with a throw of 55.38m to win gold, while Shih Yuh-Jhen of Chinese Taipei settled for bronze with 43.00m.
Palash Mandal secured a bronze medal in the 5000m walk to open India's account in athletics on the day. He clocked 24:48.92s.
The event was dominated by China, with Haoze Zhang (21:43.82s) and Yujie Lu (22:28.64s) taking the gold and silver medals respectively.
Zubin Gohain added another bronze medal for India in the boys' high jump, clearing 2.03m on his second attempt after a smooth progression through 1.85m, 1.89m, 1.93m, 1.97m, 1.99m and 2.01m.
The 15-year-old Assam jumper showed fine consistency before faltering at 2.05m, which he failed to clear in all three attempts.
Kai-Lun Huang of Chinese Taipei went on to win the gold after scaling 2.05m, while Bi Zaoxin of China took the silver, having cleared 2.03m on his very first attempt.
Gohain, who needed two tries to get over the same height, had to settle for bronze on countback.
Himanshu Kumar Singh, who also cleared 2.03m, missed out on a medal as he needed three attempts to achieve the height.
In the boys' javelin throw, India's Prince narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth with a throw of 61.92m.
Jayathissa Chathura Dulnjana of Sri Lanka took the bronze with 62.51m, while Wu Huaichu of China (68.38m) and Qiu Bang-Xuan of Chinese Taipei (64.91m) won the gold and silver respectively.
China continued to dominate the medals table with 31 medals -- 13 gold, 13 silver and five bronze (13-13-5), followed by Thailand (7-2-3), Uzbekistan (6-3-4) and Iran (3-5-7).
Kazakhstan are a fair distance behind India with 11 medals, including two gold and two silver.
Athletes from 45 national federations are competing for 1,677 medals -- including 505 gold, 503 silver and 669 bronze -- across 21 sports at the ongoing Games, which conclude on October 27.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Lebanon appoints new representative for talks with Israel, rejects linkage to Iran
Beirut: Lebanon’s has moved to underline its independent position in ongoing regional developments, amid attempts to link the country to the broader conflict involving Iran, the United States and Israel.
President Joseph Aoun, while announcing the appointment of former US ambassador Simon Karam as Lebanon’s representative in talks with Israel, made it clear that Karam would be the sole representative for Lebanon and that there would be no substitute.
The move comes in response to what the Lebanese officials see as efforts by Iran to tie Lebanon’s situation to the wider regional conflict. Iran had indicated that there would be no ceasefire involving the US, Israel and Iran unless it also included a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Some groups, including Hezbollah and its supporters, had expressed support for linking the situations, citing concerns that the Lebanese government has limited leverage in negotiations with Israel. Lebanon is not formally a party to the conflict, and its army is considered weak.
However, others, including Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, have opposed this approach. They view Iran’s stance as an attempt to influence Lebanon’s internal affairs and see it as undermining the country’s sovereignty.
Officials backing the government’s position say the move is aimed at reaffirming Lebanon’s sovereignty and ensuring that decisions about peace and ceasefire within the country are not dictated externally.
They also see it as a safeguard, so that any breakdown in talks between the US, Israel and Iran does not automatically lead to renewed conflict in Lebanon.
