By a Correspondent
The four-year wait, this time it was five years following the pandemic, of Asia’s top athletes to corner glory at the 19th Asian Games is about to get over as the athletics competition begins at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium on Friday.
World Champion and Diamond League final winner Winfred Yavi sailing over the water jumps in women’s 3000m steeplechase, the battle between World and Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra and Pakistan’s Commonwealth Games gold medalist Arshad Nadeem in men’s javelin throw, Filipino World No.2 EJ Obiena’s quest to soar above the magical six-metre mark again in men’s pole vault, Japanese Sani Brown’s electric run in the men’s 100m, the battle between South Korean Woo Sang-Hyeok and Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim in men’s high jump and the surprise dazzling shows from the Chinese athletes on home soil all await the fans of track and field for the next seven days.
The action will begin with the 20km Race Walk on Friday morning and end with the Marathon a week later. It’s going to be a festive week for home fans as the Games is scheduled to coincide with the Chinese National Day celebrations which falls on October 1.
The opening day will see five finals, including in women’s shot put and 10,000m. Olympic and two-time World champion Lijiao Gong will battle for the shot put gold with compatriot and Asian champion Jiayuan Song. Gong, also the defending champion, is fourth in the 2023 world list with a best of 20.06m followed by Song (10th spot) at 19.46m. The 10,000m will probably be a battle between the Japanese and the Chinese. Host’s Wuga He (31:14.94) is this season’s leader in Asia with Japan’s Ririka Hironaka a distant second (31:35.12).
The first day will also decide the first round winners in the men’s and women’s 100m with Singapore’s Shanti Veronica Pereira gunning for a golden double. Asia’s best times in women’s 100m are not even in the world’s top-100 list but that won’t take out the sheen off the action. Shanti will start as the favourite in women’s 200m but she is expected to face a tough challenge from China’s Yongli Wei and India’s Jyothi Yarraji. The 100m finals are scheduled on Saturday with the 200m finals on Monday.
The coming days will offer more riveting action. Sunday’s schedule includes the finals in men’s long jump, 3000m steeplechase and shot put followed by the women’s long jump final on Day 4. The day will also see India’s mixed relay team in action to defend their gold medal with China and Japan expected to push them for the top spot. Indians will be hoping for a triple treat having assembled strong teams in both the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay too.
In the men’s pole vault, the home stars will be plotting to upset Obiena. Looking to trouble the Filipino would be China’s Bokai Huang and Ji Yao who both cleared 5.75m in the Budapest final. Defending champion Seito Yamamoto of Japan will also be in the fray but he has not had a good season so far. Jakarta Games’ champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor, who won the gold at the Asian meet in Bangkok ignoring a groin injury, will start as the favourite in men’s shot put. But the Chinese will again be looking to ambush the predictions after being quiet since May-June. China’s best bet in the event are Zizhong Tian and Yang Liu.
Doha Worlds bronze medallist Abderrahman Samba of Qatar will be on the starting blocks to defend his men’s 400m hurdles gold along with Iran’s Ehsan Hadadi in men’s discus throw. The women’s action will also have defending champions including Bahrain’s former worlds winner Salwa Eid Naser (400m) and Yavi (3000m steeplechase) and China’s Li Ling (pole vault), Liu Shiying (javelin throw) and Yang Jiayu (20 km race walk). The penultimate day’s action will be the most watched by South Asians with the gold medals in men’s javelin throw and two 4x400m relay up for grabs.
DEFENDING CHAMPS IN HANGZHOU
MEN
1. Jinson Johnson (India) — 1500m
2. Birhanu Balew (Bahrain) — 5000m
3. Abderrahman Samba (Qatar) — 400mH
4. Seito Yamamoto (Japan) — Pole vault
5. Wang Jianan (China) — Long jump
6. Tajinderpal Singh Toor (India) — Shot put
7. Ehsan Hadadi (Iran) — Discus throw
8. Ashraf Amjad Al-Saifi (Qatar) — Hammer throw
9. Neeraj Chopra (India) — Javelin throw
10. Japan — 4x100m relay
11. Qatar — 4x400m relay
WOMEN
1. Ofonime Odiong (Bahrain) — 100, 200m
2. Salwa Eid Naser (Bahrain) — 400m
3. Winfred Yavi (Bahrain) — 3000m Steeplechase
4. Svetlana Radzivil (Uzbekistan) — High jump
5. Li Ling (China) — Pole vault
6. Bui Thi Thu Thao (Vietnam) — Long jump
7. Lijiao Gong (China) — Shot put
8. Liu Shiying (China) — Javelin throw
9. Swapna Barman (India) — Heptathlon
10. Yang Jiayu (China) — 20km Race walk
11. Bahrain — 4x100m relay
12. India — 4x100m relay
MIXED
4x400m relay — India
TOP DUELS
MEN
Pole Vault: EJ Obiena (Phi) vs Bokai Huang and Jie Yao (both from China)
Long Jump: Wang Jianan (Chi) vs Jeswin Aldrin and Murali Sreeshankar (both from India)
High Jump: Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qat) vs Woo Sang-Hyeok (Kor)
Javelin Throw: Neeraj Chopra (Ind) vs Asrhad Nadeem (Pak)
Triple Jump: Praveen Chitravel (Ind) vs Zhu Yaming and Fang Yaoqing (both from China)
WOMEN
200m: Salwa Eid Naser (Brn) vs Shanti Veronica Pereira (Sgp)
1500m: Winfred Yavi vs Maryam Yusuf Jamal (both from Bahrain)
3000m Steeplechase: Winfred Yavi (Brn) vs Parul Chaudhary (Ind)
5000m: Ririka Hironaka (Jpn) vs Maryam Yusuf Jamal (Brn)
400m Hurdles: Kemi Adekoya (Brn) vs Vithya Ramraj (Ind)
