Asian Games: Parul Chaudhary breaks personal best to win second Asian medal in steeplechase

NEW DELHI: Parul Chaudhary broke her personal best on her way to a bronze medal in the women’s 3000m steeplechase at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sunday, adding a second Asian Games medal to the event.The Indian clocked 9:08.67 to finish third on the podium, bettering her personal best in a strong performance. Parul won silver in the same event at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games.Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi won gold in 9:04.36 while Kazakhstan’s Norah Jeruto Tanui claimed silver in 9:06.82.India’s other runner, Ankita, finished fourth but also clocked a personal best of 9:19.24.Asian Games full coverage | Medal Tally | Schedule

Hair sets a new personal best

Parul’s 9:08.67 marked a new personal best as well as a new Indian national record as she again finished on the Asian Games podium three years after her silver performance in Hangzhou.Yavi stayed at the head of the field to secure gold while Tanui took silver. Parul held the bronze to add another medal to Indian athletics.Ankita narrowly missed out on the podium but achieved a personal milestone as she lowered her personal best time to 9:19.24.

Sarvesh, Ancy settle for silver

Earlier, India’s Sarvesh Kushare and Ancy Sojan had to settle for silver after leading much of their respective finals.Sarvesh was in contention for gold in the men’s high jump but slipped to second place after failing to clear 2.25m on his first attempt. Chao Hsuan-Fu of Chinese Taipei cleared the height on his first attempt while Sarvesh cleared his second.Ancy also led the women’s long jump, clearing 6.53m in her fifth attempt. However, China’s Huang Yingying cleared a decisive 6.55m in the final round to move ahead and claim gold.Shaila Singh missed out on a bronze after China’s Mengyi Tan produced 6.46m in her last attempt to get ahead of the Indian, whose best was 6.42m.Earlier, Harita Bhadra clinched the women’s 200m bronze in 23.20 seconds, beating Japan’s Ido Abigeirufuku by 0.01 seconds. Singapore’s Shanti Pereira won gold in 22.78s while China’s Chen Yujie took silver in 22.93s. Unnathi Aiyappa Bolland finished sixth in 23.48s.