Jr Asian meet: Ashish, Damneet pick gold, silver in hammer throw

Gifu (Japan), June 8

Indian track and field athletes clinched four medals, including one gold, as they got off their campaign at the 2018 Asian Junior Championships to a strong start.
Charkhi Dadri thrower Ashish Jakhar was the star among the Indians on the opening day as he set a junior national record en route winning the gold medal in the men’s hammer throw event.
Jakhar, a former gold medallist at the 2016 Asian Junior Championships, threw the 6kg iron ball and chain to a distance of 76.86m at the Gifu Nagaragawa Stadium to shatter the previous U-20 national mark of 75.04m that he himself had set at the Junior Federation Cup in April.
Jakhar began strongly with a throw of 74.97m in his first attempt before managing to set a new national mark in his second effort. He was joined on the podium by compatriot Damneet Singh, who also managed a personal best of 74.08m to clinch the silver medal. Barnala-lad Singh, the 2017 World Youth silver medallist, bettered his previous best effort of 70.37m recorded at the Junior Federation Cup earlier this year.
Priyadarshini Suresh and long distance runner Poonam Sonune added to the tally with bronze medals in women’s triple jump and women’s 5000m race, respectively.
Priyadarshini came up with a personal best of 13.08m in her second jump of the competition. The gold went to Vietnam’s VU Thi Ngoc Ha, who cleared a distance of 13.22m while China’s Youqi Pan was second with a best jump of 13.21m.
Maharashtra’s Sonune managed to get on the podium in the final race of the evening — women’s 5000m. She finished third with a timing of 17:03.75s. Quartermiler Jisna Mathew (54.78s) was the fastest across the two heats in the women’s 400m race. Defending champion Mathews qualified for the final with a time of 54.78s. Compatriot Rachna, however, failed to qualify for the final after clocking 58.07s to finish fifth in the second heat.