Dubai (UAE) – 27 April 2024:
Thrilling relay finals and distance races took the spotlight on the fourth and final day of the 21st Asian U20 Athletics Championships, which concluded on Saturday at the Dubai Police Stadium.
Japan opened the evening session on a winning note in the junior women’s 100m hurdles, as their athletes Tenka Taninake and Anna Matsuda were 1-2 in the finals ahead of India’s Unnathi Aiyappa. Their winning spree continued in the 800m, in which Ochiai Ko claimed gold at 1:48.01 by defeating favourite Hatim Aitoulghazhi of Qatar to win the silver medal at 1:48.39. More surprising in this race is the third-place finish of defending champion Tachizako Hironori (1:49.73).
Another defending champion who failed to retain her crown was India’s Laxita Sandilea. The Yecheon victor tried to take the top spot in the 1500m. However, Japan’s 16-year-old Drury Sherry proved to be a better runner and delivered a solid finish to win the event in 4:21.41 ahead of the Indian, who finished in 4:25.63.
Japan got the third gold of the day through Mashiko Yota in 3000m. Indian distance runners Gaurav Bhosale and Vikas Kumar Bind gave him the required challenge in the initial stages. Still, Yota was a known fighter with a superior personal best than the Indians. He proved it by finishing 15 seconds ahead of the Indians for the gold (8:16.06).
In the junior women’s 5000m, China’s Li Yaxuan won her second gold medal in the championships. The 800m gold winner in last year’s Asian U18 championships in Tashkent, Li earlier won the 3000m gold on the opening day. India’s Ekta Dey, the steeplechase winner here, and teammate Sunita Devi led the race for some time. But Li broke away from the rest to make a strong finish to win in 16:34.82.
The junior men from China also claimed gold in the two field events held in the evening. Ziang Dong won the high jump from Japan’s Kaisei Nkatani in a sea-saw battle. Chinese were 1-2 in the long jump, with Wei Junzheng taking the gold by leaping to 7.76m. Zhang Shengming (7.58m) and India’s Mohd Atta Sazid (7.52m) went home with the other two medals.
Athletes from Kazakhstan took the top two positions in the heptathlon. Alina Chistyakova won with 5,481 points, edging teammate Irinia Konichsheva (5,438 pts) to the second position.
The relay races took centre stage once again. Sprint relay quartets from Hong Kong Ching took the gold medals in both boys’ and girls’ sections. In the 4 x 400m relay, the junior women’s from India won in 3:41.50. However, the Thailand boys went home with the gold in a thriller, beating India 3:09.33 to 3:09.36, with Sri Lankan completing the podium in 3:09.48.
China regained the top position in the medals table with 15 gold, 9 silver, and 3 bronze medals. Last year’s medal topper, Japan, finished second (8-5-8), just ahead of the Indians (7-11-11).
Hong Kong will be hosting the next edition of the Asian U20 championships in 2026.
Ram. Murali Krishnan for Asian Athletics
