Super Sunday: It's raining medals for India at Asian Games; Malayali athletes win silver, bronze

Hangzhou (China): It is raining medals for India in the track and field events of Asian Games 2022 on Sunday and Malayali athletes have bagged accolades for the country.

Malayali athlete Murali Sreeshankar won a silver medal in the Men's Long Jump Final with a best finish of 8.19 meters at the ongoing 19th Asian Games. Palakkad youngster started his event with a failed attempt however he recovered well and in his second attempt, with a jump of 7.97 metres. Sreeshankar with a fantastic jump crossed the 8-metre mark and landed a jump of 8.01m. With this leap, he jumped up to the second position. However, the jump's legality was checked. He has a brief discussion with the umpires, explaining his side of the story. Later the jump was given as a legal jump and he scored 8.19. He was just 0.03 behind China's Wang. Sreeshankar did not get the finish that he wanted as he concluded the event with a score of 8.19 start. Sreeshankar gave it his all but just by a margin of 3cm, he finished second.  

In the Men’s 1500m Athletics Event, Ajoy Kumar Saroj bagged silver while Malayali athlete Jinson Johnson took home a bronze medal at the ongoing 19th Asian Games. They finished just behind Qatar's Algarni and a last-minute boost by Jinson helped him go past the third position runner to finish third. Reigning Champion Jinson Johnson hailing from Kozhikode finished third in the Men's 1500m race. This was the third Asian Games medal for Jinson. 

India's star hurdler, Jyothi Yarraji, clinched a silver medal in the Women’s 100m Hurdles amidst some false start drama. 

The 24-year-old athlete was initially awarded the bronze medal. However, China's Wu Yanni was disqualified after the race, upgrading Yarraji's medal to a silver. 

With a power-packed performance following plenty of drama in the final, the ace athlete clocked 12.91s to secure the silver medal in the Women's 100m Hurdles final. China's Yuwei Lin claimed the gold medal with a time of 12.74s, while Japan's Yumi Tanaka earned the bronze. 

Yanni Wu, who initially finished second, was disqualified due to a false start. The race began amid high drama after a false start allowed China's Wu Yanni to gain an early lead. 

Wu was in the lane next to Yarraji on the left, and Yarraji followed her trigger movement. 

Officials demanded that both Wu and Yarraji be disqualified for a false start, which the Indian athlete strongly disputed. 

After a lengthy discussion with the officials, Yarraji and Wu were allowed to compete in the race under review. While Yarraji's start was slower than she would have preferred, she made up for it by working hard to finish third with a time of 12.91s in the middle of the race. 

The review process continued after the race, delaying the formal announcement of the results. Ultimately, due to Wu's penalty for false starts in accordance with TR16.8, Yarraji was awarded the silver medal

Nandini Agasara won a bronze medal in the women's Heptathlon 800m. The 20-year-old finished third in her first Asian Games with a points tally of 5712. She finished above her national compatriot Swapna Barman by a four-point margin. Swapna finished 4th with 5708 points.

Veteran discus thrower Seema Punia won a bronze for her third medal in as many editions of the Asian Games with a throw of 58.62m.

In the women's 1500m race, Harmilan Bains bagged a silver medal. It was a close race throughout and Bains added a silver medal to India's tally. Bains finishes with a time of 4:12.74 minutes.

Earlier today, track and field athlete Avinash Sable rewrote history by clinching a gold medal in the men's steeplechase 3000m, setting a new Asian Games record with his timing. 

With ANI, PTI inputs