Asian Athletics C'ships: Yarraji wins gold in women's 100m hurdles, Sable shines in men's 3000m steeplechase

Gumi (South Korea), May 29 (IANS) Indian ace hurdler Jyothi Yarraji won the gold medal in the women’s 100m hurdles at the Asian Athletics Championships on Thursday. She not only defended her gold but also set a new competition record with a timing of 12.96s.

Japan's Yumi Tanaka bagged silver ahead of China's Wu Yanni with the slightest margin of 0.007s. Jyothi produced a late burst to continue her supremacy in the event to surpass the previous records of 13.04 seconds, achieved by Kazakhstan's Olga Shishigina in 1998 and Sun Yawei of China in 2011.

It was a double delight for India as steeplechase runner Avinash Sable also delivered a season-best performance to clinch the gold medal in the men's 3000m steeplechase.

Sable clinched the gold with a time of 8:20.92, securing his second Asian Championships medal after winning silver in 2019. While it was enough for the top spot this time, the performance fell short of his national record of 8:09.91 set in 2024.

India's wait for gold in the men’s steeplechase at the Asian Championships finally ended, marking the nation’s first top-podium finish in the event since Dina Ram’s triumph back in 1989. The milestone, however, traces back further to 1975 when Harbel Singh became the first Indian to clinch gold in the discipline.

Continuing India’s golden run, Jyothi delivered a standout performance in the women’s 100m hurdles. Though she secured gold with a time of 13.09 seconds, her personal best — and the current national record — is a significantly sharper 12.78 seconds. A silver medallist at the Asian Games, Jyothi etched her name in history by becoming just the fifth athlete to successfully defend the 100m hurdles title at the Asian Championships. She now shares the honour with legends like Japan’s Emi Akimoto (1979, 1981, 1983), and China’s Zhang Yu (1991, 1993), Su Yinping (2003, 2005), and Sun Yawei (2009, 2011).

Just moments before Jyothi’s golden moment, Sable, the Hangzhou Asian Games champion, lived up to expectations in the men’s 3000m steeplechase. Sable executed a well-timed surge on the final lap to overhaul Japan’s Yutaro Niinae, who had taken the lead with three laps to go. Sable crossed the finish line ahead of the Japanese runner, who clocked 8:24.41 to take silver, while Qatar’s Zakaria Elahlaami earned bronze with 8:27.12.

Earlier in the day, India’s 4x400m men’s relay team delivered their best-ever performance to dominate their heat and book a spot in the final. The quartet — Rince Joseph, Dharmveer Choudhary, Manu Thekkinalil Saji, and Mohit Kumar — clocked an impressive 3:06.28, finishing ahead of China (3:06.79) and hosts South Korea (3:10.05). The Indian team will start from lane five in the final, which features strong challengers including Sri Lanka, China, and Kazakhstan. Notably, Sri Lanka enter with the season’s fastest time of 3:01.56.

In the women’s 10,000m final, Sanjeevani Jadhav recorded her season’s best of 33:08.17 to finish fifth, narrowly ahead of compatriot Seema, who was sixth in 33:08.23. The race was dominated by Kazakhstan’s Daisy Jepkemei, who claimed gold with a time of 30:48.44, followed by Japan’s Ririrak Hironika (30:56.32) and Mikuni Yada (31:12.21).

With two golds on Thursday, India's medal tally currently stands at 10 with four gold, four silver and two bronze.

--IANS

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