World U20 Athletics Championships
Park Si-Hoon, the promising shot putter from Korea, heaved the 6 kg iron ball to 20.31m to snatch the silver medal on the opening day of the World U20 Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, on Wednesday night.
Earlier this year, Park triumphed at the Asian U20 Championships in Hong Kong with a personal best throw of 20.65m. In Eugene, after easily qualifying with 19.69m in the morning, the Korean opened his medal round with 19.87m before securing the silver medal with his third attempt in the final.
A dedicated athlete, Park attributed his achievements to his parents' sacrifices and revealed his ambition to surpass the 22m mark with the senior 7.26 kg implement in the near future.
Japanese runners finished outside the podium in the 5000m events. Yuri Onotora (15:37.33) and Ryo Kurimura (13:48.85) finished seventh and eighth in the women's and men's races respectively. It is heartening to note that Kurimura, who won the Asian U20 title with a national junior best of 13:21.99, would have comfortably won the gold in Eugene had he repeated his Hong Kong performance.
In the qualifying rounds of the women's discus throw, Chinese duo Su Yuxin (58.06m) and Ma Chenyi (57.72m) topped the list of qualifiers. Their compatriot Chen Jiawei led the men's hammer throw qualification with a national U20 record of 80.39m, extending his World U20 lead in the event.
As many as five Asian athletes qualified for the javelin throw final, with India's Ashish Yadav recording the second-best qualifying mark of 69.87m, behind South Africa's Jan-Hendrik Heymans (76.02m).
From the 100m semifinals, Malaysia's SEA Games bronze medallist advanced to the final after clocking 10.36 seconds. He holds a personal best of 10.18 seconds, achieved last year in Bangkok.
Elsewhere, the host nation, the United States, registered a commanding victory in the 4x400m Mixed Relay with an impressive time of 3:15.31.
Ram. Murali Krishnan
for Asian Athletics
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