Doha, April 23, 2019: Long distance events returned on the competition schedule on Day 3 of the Asian Athletics Championships in Doha and so did Bahrain in the medal table’s top position with a total of seven gold medals. The Bahrainis emerged victorious in three events, China, Thailand and Uzbekistan won a pair of Gold medals, while the Japanese national anthem was played once to honour Keisuke Ushiro’s victory in the Decathlon.
The first race of the day to take place in Khalifa International Stadium was the women’s 3000m Steeplechase. A familiar face, the 5000m winner Winfred Mutile Yavi took her place on the starting line, this time in her favourite event.
Yavi played the waiting game for most of the race and made her kick with two laps to go. Her acceleration was no match to the others and Yavi easily made a glorious double in less than 48 hours with a time of 9:46.18, ahead of China’s Xu Shuangshang (9:51.76) and fellow compatriot Tigest Mekonen (9:53.96).
Drama was played behind with Sri Lanka’s Udakhubralage Nilani Rathnayake tripping down in the final hurdle and finishing fourth in pain and agony, while China’s Zhang Xinyan, the 2015 Asian Championships silver medallist trailed way back with an injured calf.
In the multi events, victory went to Uzbekistan and Japan.
The Heptathlon gold was decided in the sixth event, the Javelin Throw. Ekaterina Voronina set a new personal best with 53.53, while India’s Swapna Barman threw 46.83 and suddenly a 130-point gap between them in the scoring table was built. Then a few hours later, the Uzbek sealed victory with a convincing 800m run to win with 6198 points.
“I came back on top after missing the 2017 edition because I was pregnant (gave birth to a little girl last year). I wanted to break the national record, maybe I’ll do it in my next competition,” said the 2015 and 2019 Asian Championships winner.
Barman complained about an ankle injury which troubled her in the past three weeks.
4.90m clearance in Pole Vault with his third attempt, and a massive 65.00m throw in the Javelin once again with his third try, gave Keisuke Ushiro a huge advantage before the 1500m the final event and despite finishing some 100m behind second-placed Akhiko Nakamura, he protected his overall lead. Nakamura not only lost to his countryman but also to Kuwait’s Majed Alzaid in the battle for silver, by a mere one point.
The titles in the field events were shared among China, Uzbekistan and Thailand.
Li Ling was a class of her own in the Pole Vault. She finished the job for the gold medal with a first-attempt clearance in 4.46 then sailed over 4.61 for a season best and in the end she tried to beat her own Asian and Championships record by placing the bar at 4.71, but it was not meant to be today.
Defending champion Nadezhda Dusanova was always in control in the High Jump, even when she failed once at 1.86. A first-attempt clearance at 1.90 imposed her dominion for Uzbekistan’s second gold of the day.
In the Triple Jump, Thailand’s Parinya Chuaimaroeng scored a dramatic victory after leaping 13.72 in the final round in spite of a strong 1.5 m/sec headwind to deny China’s Zeng Rui, what it looked like a certain win.
Chuaimaroeng’s medal was meant to be Thailand’s only gold of the night, before a protest made in the men’s 4X100m Relay which was accepted by the jury of appeal and led to provisional winners’ China disqualification. Thailand were declared winner with 38.99.
We have put our egos and our individual aspirations aside to focus on this team,” said Ruttanapon Sowan who along with the other members of the Thai team, blamed weather conditions (19 degrees) for not breaking once more the national (and championships) record of 38.72 they set in the morning.
Unlike in the men’s relay, China’s victory in the women’s 4X100m not only was never challenged or questioned, but the quartet of Liang, Wei, Kong and Ge set a new Championships record and world lead with 42.87.
Bahrain won the mixed relay – held for the first time ever – in 3:15.75 having 400m winner Salwa Naser and men’s one-lap race silver medallist Abubaker Abbas,in their ranks, along with Isah and Yusuf Jamal.
Earlier, Naser registered the fastest time in the 200m qualifying round with 22.84, equalling the championships record and aims to become on Wednesday the only athlete with three gold medals at the 23rd Asian Athletics Championships.
The day ended in pretty much the same fashion as it started, with a Bahraini gold medal in a women’s long-distance event. In the most anticipated race of the day, the 10,000m, Japan’s Hitomi Niiya led up until two laps before the end having Bahrain’s Shitaye Habtegebrel right on her heels. When the Bahraini finally made her move, Niiya was unable to follow and victory slipped out of her hands. Habtegebrel crossed the line in 31:15.62 to put her country atop the medal table.
“This race was a test for me for next month’s Prague Marathon. I’ll be back in Doha for the World Championships but I don’t know yet if I will enter the 10,000m or the Marathon. It’ll be the Federation’s decision,” said the jubilant winner.
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