3 medals won but Anju Bobby George rues missed chances on mixed athletics day
India’s athletics campaign produced three medals on Saturday, September 26, but a day that promised much more ended with a sense of missed opportunities, injuries and near misses at the Asian Games.
Sawan Barwal’s silver in the men’s marathon, Tajinderpal Singh Toor’s silver in the men’s shot put and Prachi Chaudhary’s bronze in the women’s 400m gave India reasons to celebrate.
But with several medal contenders either unable to compete or failing to reach the podium, Athletics Federation of India vice-president Anju Bobby George described it as a mixed day.
ASIAN GAMES LIVE: UPDATE 26 SEPTEMBER | TABLE OF MEDALS
MEDALS, BUT MISSED CHANCES
“Honestly, we’re not completely happy because we were expecting a few more gold medals,” George said on Sony Sports Network.
India entered the day with some strong medal prospects, but the results did not quite live up to expectations.
The biggest setbacks came in the women’s 100m hurdles and the men’s triple jump, where both last year’s winners Jyothi Yarraji and Praveen Chithravel were forced to withdraw from their events.
Yarraji, a silver medalist from previous Asian Games, withdrew from her heat after feeling pain during the warm-up, according to an AFI official.
Meanwhile, Chithravel failed to complete his opening attempt in the triple jump after clutching his leg in pain. Karthik Unnikrishnan finished sixth in the event.
“Praveen was actually leading his pack before he injured his hamstring trying to run the course,” George said.
“She was already dealing with pain with Jyothi; we believed she would make it, but during the warm-up she felt sharp discomfort and had to withdraw.”
“Losing these two certain medals made it a difficult day for us,” she added.
THEY ARE NOT CLOSE TO THE TRACK
India also came close to adding more medals in the track events.
National record holder Vishal TK finished fifth in the men’s 400m final in 45.48 seconds. His best performance of the season would have put him in contention for a higher placing, but he was unable to reproduce that mark in the final.
In the women’s 1500m, Parul Chaudhary missed the podium by finishing fourth in 4:09.46 while Pooja finished sixth in 4:16.78.
These results added to India’s list of near misses on a day when the gap between a medal and fourth place proved costly.
NO PEACH GOLD THREE-PEAT
Toor’s silver also came with a sense of what might have been.
The two-time defending champion was aiming for a third straight Asian Games gold but ended up with silver after Iran’s Mohammadreza Tayebi set a Games record of 20.81m. Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Tolu took bronze with 20.48m.
“We always expect gold from him because he is a top athlete and an Asian record holder,” George said.
Still, George felt Toor’s performance deserved a lot of credit, especially considering the wet conditions that affected the face-off circle.
“Remarkably, he gave his best performance in rainy conditions to secure silver in his third appearance at the Asian Games,” she said.
RAIN ADDS TO THE CHALLENGE
The weather was another factor throughout the day’s athletics program, especially in field events.
“It’s an outdoor event, so the weather plays a big role,” George said.
Despite the difficult conditions, she pointed out that the wider standard of Asian athletics remains high, with five Asian Games records broken in various events.
For India, however, Saturday remained a day defined as much by the medals that got away as by the ones that were won.
Three podium finishes made for a respectable comeback, but injuries to Yarraji and Chithravel, Toor’s lost crown and near misses for Vishal and Parul left the Indian camp wondering what could have been.
– The end