Abhishek Pal wins bronze at Asian Athletics Championships in men’s 10,000-metre event

BANGKOK: India’s long-distance runner Abhishek Pal won a bronze in the men’s 10,000-metre event at the Asian Athletics Championships 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand, on Wednesday. This is Abhishek’s maiden medal at a major competition.

Abhishek Pal opened India’s gold tally in the Bangkok meet by finishing his race in 29:33.26 while competing at the Suphachalasai National Stadium, as per Olympics.com.

Japan’s Ren Tazawa took first place in the 10,000-metre event with a record of 29:18.44. Shadrack Kimutai Koech of Kazakhstan won silver, clocking a time of 29:31.63. Gulveer Singh of India came in fifth place overall among the 16 competitors with a time of 29:53.69.

Abhishek’s personal best is 28:54.98 clocked in Gujarat last year. India’s national record of 28:02.89 in the men’s 10,000 mt belongs to the Beijing 2008 Olympian Surendra Singh, set 15 years ago.

Annu Rani, an women’s javelin thrower who placed fourth overall with a best effort of 59.10 metres, but won silver at the most recent competition in Doha in 2019 with a mark of 60.22, lost out on a bronze. Annu Rani, who established the national mark for India at 63.82 metres last year, failed to jump 60 metres this season.

Marina Saito of Japan logged a distance of 61.67 mt for the gold medal ahead of reigning Olympic champion Liu Shiying of China, who wasn’t far behind with 61.51 mt. Sri Lanka’s Dilhani Lekamge clinched the bronze medal with her personal best of 60.93 mt.

In the men’s 400m, India’s Muhammed Ajmal and Rajesh Ramesh made the cut for the eight-man final after finishing fourth and seventh, respectively, in the semifinals. Muhammed Ajmal clocked his season-best of 45.76 while Rajesh Ramesh crossed the finish line in 45.91.

Lili Das came seventh in the women’s 1,500 mt final with a timing of 4:27.61.

Tejaswin Shankar, meanwhile, is currently leading the men’s decathlon event with 4,124 points from five events. Tejaswin Shankar holds the national record in the men’s high jump and also won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in his pet event. Tejaswin Shankar started competing in the decathlon last year.

The remaining five events in the men’s decathlon and the men’s 400 mt final will be held on Thursday. (ANI)