BHUBANESWAR 08-Jul-2017
Host India maintained position at the top of the medals table, garnering one gold, one silver and three bronze on the penultimate day of the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships here at Kalinga Stadium today. India now have 7 gold, 4 silver and 9 bronze medals taking the total medal count to 20, with China on 15.
Sudha Singh bagged the day’s lone gold for India in women’s 3000m steeplechase with a timing of 9:59.47. The 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games gold medal winner, Sudha had finished runner-up on three occasions in past Asian Athletics Championships.
A string of back-to-back sprint events rose the excitement amongst the crowd as the Indian women’s relay team finished in third place in the 4x100m relay. The team comprising of Merlin Joseph, Himashree Roy and Srabani Nanda kept pace with the rest of the field before local hero Dutee Chand took the team home in an inspired last stretch, somewhat softening the disappointment of the men’s team that was disqualified in the semi-final.
