Asian Games Athletics Wrap: Animesh & Gurindervir Reach 100m Semis; India Bags Relay Silver And Bronze

Animesh Kujur and Gurindervir Singh moved into the men's 100m semifinals on Thursday, giving India a bright opening to its Asian Games athletics campaign. Seema took bronze in the women's 10,000m final, and India also collected silver in the mixed 4x400m relay.

Kujur took third place in Heat 1 in 10.36 seconds, while Gurindervir finished second in Heat 4 in 10.38 seconds. Both earned automatic passage to the semifinals after placing inside the top three in their heats at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

India's first athletics medal of the day came through Seema in the women's 10,000m final. India then added another medal in the mixed 4x400m relay, continuing a run of podium finishes in the event.

Kujur And Gurindervir

Kujur had to work hard.

He was slow out of the blocks and had to fight his way back into the qualifying spots. Over the final 25 metres, the Indian sprinter found another gear and finished behind Thailand's Puripol Boonson and China's Keli Zeng.

Boonson won Heat 1 in 9.95 seconds. Zeng took second place in 10.22 seconds, while Kujur sealed third in 10.36 seconds to move into the semifinals.

Gurindervir looked composed. He finished second in Heat 4 in 10.38 seconds behind Oman's Malham Al Balushi, who won in 10.29 seconds.

The qualification adds to a breakthrough season for Gurindervir. He set the Indian 100m national record of 10.09 seconds at the Federation Cup in May. Kujur, whose personal best stands at 10.14 seconds, is India's second-fastest 100m runner.

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Relay Podium Run

India added another silver.

The mixed 4x400m relay quartet clocked 3:14.46 to finish second. Bahrain won gold in 3:12.87 and Vietnam took bronze in 3:14.54.

The race stayed tight till the end. India edged Vietnam by just 0.08 seconds, with the two teams separated by a very narrow margin at the finish.

India had already placed second in its qualifying heat. The silver also kept its streak of mixed relay medals alive at the Asian Games. India won gold in Jakarta in 2018, took silver in Hangzhou in 2023 and added another silver in Nagoya.

Other Indian Results

Seema opened India's medal account in athletics by taking bronze in the women's 10,000m final.

Asha Ilango fell just short of a podium finish in the women's triple jump. She finished fourth with a best effort of 13.83m and was tied on distance with China's Yi Li, but lost out on countback.

Asha had one last chance to move ahead. She needed to better Li's mark of 13.79m with her final attempt, but managed only 13.59m. Niharika Vashisht finished 10th in the same event.

The heptathlon brought mixed returns. Pooja finished fourth in the shot put with 11.44m, while Anamika Aneesh was eighth with 11.15m.

Both struggled in the 200m later. Anamika clocked 25.96 seconds and Pooja finished in 26.27 seconds.