India’s Tejaswin Shankar during the men’s decathlon (PTI Photo/Gurinder Osan) NEW DELHI: India ended their campaign at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships with five medals and one gold to finish sixth overall in the medal standings. Tejaswin Shankar produced an outstanding performance for India as he won gold in the men’s heptathlon, the country’s only gold medal at the event.Shankar scored 5993 points to win the heptathlon, breaking his own national indoor record of 5650 points set in 2021. He led from day one and maintained his dominance in all seven events. In the final day, he clocked 8.02 seconds in the 60m hurdles and scored 977 points. He then cleared 4.20 meters in the pole vault to add 673 points before finishing strong in the 1000m in 2:43.91, bringing his total score to 5993. Shankar is already India’s national outdoor decathlon record holder and has won silver at the 2023 Asian Games, further proving his status as one of India’s best all-rounders.Other Indian medalists also impressed. Pooja won silver in the women’s high jump with a clearance of 1.87 metres. Tajinderpal Singh Toor clinched silver in the men’s shot put with a season’s best throw of 20.05 metres, narrowly missing gold. Ancy Sojan won bronze in the women’s long jump with a best performance of 6.21 meters. Earlier in the competition, Aadrash Ram Jothi Shankar won bronze in the high jump.China dominated the championship with 34 medals, including 10 gold, to finish comfortably on top of the table. Despite missing out on multiple golds, Indian athletes put in strong performances with several personal bests and season bests, underscoring the country’s growing strength in athletics on the Asian stage.
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