Tehran (Iran) – 19 FEB 2024:
As expected Japan’s Yuma Yamamoto won the women’s 3000m gold in 9:16.71 this morning. She was a bronze medalist in the last edition of the championships in Astana. India’s Ankita Dhiyani, the 5000m bronze medalist in the 2023 Asian championships in Bangkok, claimed the silver on her maiden indoor appearance. Kalil Kyzy Ainuska from Kyrgyzstan, who was fifth in Astana, filled the podium with a bronze medal.
Iranian women took the first two spots in 800m through Toktam Dastarbandan (2:09.17) and Negin Azari Edalat (2:11.43). Kazakh runner Nurmamet Akbayan went one place up from her Astana fourth place to the bronze position in Tehran.
Ace Chinese pole vaulter Li Ling, the Asian and Championship Record-holder at 4.70m, earned her third title in the indoor championships’ history. She scaled a season-best 4.51m today and then tried 4.61m, but could not succeed. Her earlier victories came in 2012 and 2016 when she set the record. Li’s teammate Niu Chunge, the 2017 World Youth Champion, claimed the silver by scaling 4.41m.
The women’s 4 x 400m relay quartet from Kazakhstan (3:41.08) won the gold ahead of Team Iran which set a national record 3:41.72 for the silver.
Kazakhs also won the men’s relay in 3:12.05 in which Iraq finished a close second place in 3:12.09.
Japan took the first two places in the men’s high jump through defending champion Ryoichi Akamatsu and Yuto Seko. Both the athletes started their campaign at 2.15m. Akamatsu sailed above the height on his first attempt while Seko took one more. After clearing the 2.19m on their first try, they moved to 2.23m but could not clear it. Akmatsu retained the title from Astana while Seko, who missed the podium last time, now snatched the silver.
Al-Zafairi posted a new record with an excellent run:
Another athlete to retain the top spot was the Kuwaiti middle-distance runner Ibrahim Al-Zafairi. Local favourite Sobhan Ahmadi and Qatar’s Abubaker Haydat Abdalla provided the required challenge which helped Al-Zafairi to run a splendid race in 1:46.80, which was much faster than his Astana winning time of 1:49.33 and also erased Qatari Abdulrahman Bala’s championship record (1:46.92) from 2016.
Indian distance runner Guleer Singh pulled a surprise by finishing first in 3000m with a time of 8:07.48. But the joy in the Indian camp was short-lived as he was since disqualified for lane infringement and Kyrgyzstan’s Keneshbekov Nursultan (8:08.85) was upgraded to the gold position. Incidentally, it was the second gold for Nursultan after the 1500m gold which he earned on the opening day.
Su Wen, who celebrated his 25th birthday about one week ago, proved his mettle by winning the triple jump with 16.74m. The World University Games gold medalist had a troubled start as his first jump was declared void. However, he logged his winning distance in the second round. Korea’s Kim Jang-Woo, who was fifth at Astana, landed silver in 16.37m. In a similar act, Uzbekistan’s Ivan Denisov, seventh in Astana, managed to step on the podium with 16.18m in Tehran.
Omani sprinter Ali Anwar Al-Balushi cliches the gold in 60m clocking 6.52 secs to victory. Japan’s Suhei Tada (6.56) and North Korean Jo Kum Ryong (6.66) complete the podium. Imranur Rahman from Bangladesh, the defending champion, narrowly missed the bronze by one-hundredth of a second. Earlier, Al-Balushi improved the meet record to 6.50 secs in yesterday’s semi-finals.
Ram. Murali Krishnan for Asian Athletics
