Mixed relay team lends golden touch after near-miss by Tejaswin Shankar

India waited till the very end of the day to find gold in the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, Korea, on Wednesday. The Mixed 4x400m relay team T Santhosh Kumar, Rupal Chaudhary, Vishal TK and Subha Venkatesan claimed the yellow metal with a measure of comfort after several Indians picked up silver medals.

The quartet combined to cruise home in 3:18.12 to secure India’s second gold medal in this edition of the continental championships. China, which briefly challenged the Indian team, and Sri Lanka were both disqualified after their runners violated Technical Rule 24.20. In the end, the win was secured with a wider gap over Kazakhstan.

Yet, gold slipped from the brave Tejaswin Shankar’ grasp in Decathlon, teased Rupal Chaudhary in the women’s 400m and silver medals were apt rewards for the determined efforts by Praveen Chithravel in men’s Triple Jump and Pooja in women’s 1500m. Yoouns Shah claimed a bronze in the men’s metric mile on the second day of the continental championships. 

Tejaswin Shankar, seeking a ticket to the World Championships this year as Asian champion, fell an agonising 16 points short. China’s Fei Xiang gained the lead through Pole Vault and increased it to 57 points with the Javelin. The Indian, who had to finish the 1500m more than 10 seconds in front of the Chinese, made a game effort from the start but Fei Xiang was up for the challenge.

He was perhaps let down by his Pole Vault where his best clearance on Wednesday was 20cm below his personal best of 4.10m. Fei Xiang’s 4.80m clearance gave him 259 points more than the Indian and put him in front for the first time. Even a 4.00m clearance by Tejaswin Shankar may have made things tougher for the Chinese in the 1500m.

Rupal Chaudhary, a U20 World Championships bronze medalist in 2022 who spent a year away from the track owing to ligament tear, enjoyed the taste of success at the continental level with a silver medal in 52.68 seconds. Japan’’s Nanako Matsumoto found the energy to last the distance and moved up from fourth place at the end of the second curve to claim a wonderful gold in 52.17.

Pooja, a 22-year-old from Haryana showed better tactical acumen and lasting power than compatriot Lili Das, as she produced a good final lap in the women’s 1500m. She was content being in sixth place for a large part of the race but found the kick to move up the ranks to earn a well-deserved silver in a time of 4:10.83, her second best time over the distance.

Triple Jumper Praveen Chithravel, Asian Games bronze medalist in 2023, reached 16.90m on his third try. While it was his best effort in an international outdoor competition since marking the National Record at 17.37m in an event in Cuba two years ago, he will be disappointed that the 17m mark was a bridge too far on Wednesday.

The other notable performances for India were scripted by Yoonus Shah in the men’s 1500m where he won bronze in 3:43.03 and Vishal TK who produced a personal best time of 45.57 seconds and missed a medal by a whisker, with Sri Lanka’s Kalinga Kumarage edging him out of the podium.