Avinash Sable wins 3000m steeplechase gold in Asian Athletics

National record-holder Avinash Sable on Thursday became the first Indian man in 36 years to win a gold medal in the 3000m steeplechase event of the Asian Athletics Championships after producing a season's best performance here. Sable clocked 8:20.92 sec to claim the top honour, which is also his second Asian medal after a silver in the 2019 edition. The last time India won a gold in this event was way back in 1989 when Dina Ram finished on top.

Harbel Singh was the first Indian to fetch a men's steeplechase gold at the showpiece back in 1975. Sable lived up to the favourite tag with some ease to consolidate the country's position in the 26th edition of the continental tournament. Japan's Yutaro Niinae, who clinched the silver with 8:24.41 sec, was leading at the start of the final la,p but the Indian ace produced a brilliant effort to go past him and claim the top prize.

The Hangzhou Asian Games gold-medallist continued to stay ahead of the pack with four laps to go, but he had two Japanese athletes following him closely. Niinae overtook Sable with three laps remaining, but the Indian had the last laugh. Qatar's Zakaria Elahlaami took the bronze after clocking 8:27.12sec.

Earlier in the day, India's 4x400m men's relay team, comprising Rince Joseph, Dharmveer Choudhary, Manu Thekkinalil Saji, and Mohit Kumar, stormed into the final with its best ever effort to top the heat on Thursday. The quartet will start from lane five in the final after clocking 3:06.28 sec.

In the heats, India outpaced China (3:06.79) and hosts Korea (3:10.05) to secure direct qualification. The final lineup includes strong contenders like Sri Lanka, China, and Kazakhstan, with Sri Lanka boasting the season's fastest of 3:01.56. In the women's 10,000m final, India's Sanjeevani Jadhav clocked a season's best of 33:08.17 sec, finishing fifth, followed closely by Seema in sixth at 33:08.23 sec. The event was dominated by Daisy Jepkemei of Kazakhstan (30:48.44), ahead of Japan's Ririrak Hironika (30:56.32) and Mikuni Yada (31:12.21).