Jakarta, Manjit Singh ended India’s 36-year drought in men’s 800 metre competition of the Asian Games, by clinching the gold, while compatriot Jinson Johnson took the silver even as the other Indian track and field athletes continued to raise the bar on Day 10 of the continental extravaganza here on Tuesday.
Surprising everyone, the 28-year-old Manjit pipped countryman Johnson with a timing of 1:46.15s, 0.20s faster than the Asian Championship medallist from Kerala.
With four of the eight athletes running parallelly, Manjit shocked everyone as the Haryana athlete displayed a stunning run in the final 40 metres.
Meanwhile, there was other good news for India from the mixed 4X400 metres relay competition as the team comprising Muhammed Anas, Rajiv Arokia, Hima Das and M.R. Poovamma claimed the silver medal.
The Indian team clocked 3:15.71 minutes to finish second behind Bahrain, which grabbed the gold medal in 3:11.89 minutes.
On the other hand, star Indian athlete Dutee Chand stormed into the women’s 200 metres final after topping the semi-finals.
However, there was disappointment for India in the other semi-final, as rising star Hima was disqualified following a false start.
Dutee emerged on top of the overall table after clocking 23 seconds, followed by Bahrain’s Edidiong Odiong with a timing of 23.01. China’s Lingwei Kong finished third after clocking her personal best of 23.32 seconds.
In the other semi-final that witnessed two false starts, teenaged Hima got a red card and was forced to leave her blocks before Hajar Alkhaldi of Bahrain also met similar fate.
Earlier, Hima clocked 23.47 to finish fourth in Heat 2, just 200th of a second short of a direct semis berth as Marie Knot of the Philippines took the third spot with 23.45.
But the sprinter from Assam earned a berth in the semi-finals as one of the fastest losers in the heats as she was seventh in the overall standings.
Dutee, on the other hand, won Heat 4 with a time of 23.37 seconds which earned her a direct spot in the semi-finals.
She was second in the overall standings at the end of the first round, behind Nigina Sharipova of Uzbekistan, who won Heat 3 with a personal best time of 23.31.
