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Indian Express
an hour ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
‘Outstanding' Animesh Kujur dazzles with 200m national record at Asian Athletics Championships
Breaking records is becoming habitual for Animesh Kujur. On Saturday at the Asian Athletics Championships, the 21-year-old lowered the national record in the 200 metres for the second time in just over a month. At the Federation Cup in Kochi, in April, he clocked 20.40 seconds to break Amlan Borgohain's mark of 20.52. In Gumi, South Korea, the stakes were high when Animesh lined up in a field that included Japan's Towa Uzawa, the defending champion. At the Fed Cup, he was expected to win, but performance in Gumi would tell if he was cut out for the big stage. Blazing start isn't the lanky sprinter's strength but he tamed the bend and finished strongly to become India's first medal winner in the 200 metres at the Asian Championships in a decade. Animesh didn't allow a false start by China's Shi Junao to distract him. A bronze clinched with a time of 20.32 seconds and a new national record. Defending champion Uzawa won the gold (20.12S) and Saudi Arabia's Abdulaziz Abdul Atafi saw off a later surge from Animesh to take the silver (20.31S). 'I knew there was a 20.05 sprinter and a 20.14 second sprinter, so I would get a good push. Every time before a race I start thinking that my start won't be good. But this time I kept the negativity aside. When the curve ended I felt like I was ahead,' Animesh said. However, when he stood on the podium, Animesh was a bit dejected. Only the national anthem of the winner's country is played. 'Standing on the podium and hearing the Indian national anthem play is a different feeling. This medal is a motivation as it was my first at an international level for me,' Animesh said. Adille Sumariwalla, a vice president of World Athletics and former 100 metre national champion rated Animesh as 'amongst the best sprinters he has seen in India. 'I think he is an outstanding athlete. If he can improve his start a little more he will be impossible to beat,' Sumariwalla said. After winning gold at the Federation Cup, Animesh had set his target. 'I want to become the first athlete (from India) to run below 20 seconds,' Animesh had said. Martin Owens, head coach of the Odisha-Reliance Foundation High Performance Centre, said he was 'stressed' till Animesh won the medal. Owens didn't travel to Gumi, so caught the action on YouTube. The coach was also worried because Animesh was under the weather. 'He has had a fever for two days, had a bit of congestion, could not breathe properly, he was a bit snorty. He was in bed for two days and only got up to race. He was probably worse yesterday (during the heats) than today,' Owens said. Owens coaches Animesh at the high performance centre in Bhubaneswar. He believes there is a sureshot way for Animesh to get faster: Compete regularly with faster sprinters. 'We knew he had to go abroad to race. And this (Asian Championships) gave us the first opportunity to race against people who are very fast. This is an outstanding achievement for someone who ran his first major international championships. Remember, he hasn't done age-group championships. He's taken two-tenths off the national record in the last month, which is a big step forward,' Owens said. Animesh, however, is still work-in-progress, the coach said. He needs to start better, improve his speed when on the bend and then can take full advantage of his strong finish. Though Animesh has been putting in the hours to gain a faster start, Owens said he didn't want it to come at the expense of his strengths. 'We worked on his start but we didn't want to sacrifice his top-end speed and his speed-endurance. You can't neglect anything. But he is very strong in that part (home straight) of the race, we don't want to ruin that by fixing something else. We want a strong race all around.' Next stop for Animesh is a competition in Taiwan before stopovers for races in Geneva, Athens and Monte Carlo. Owens predicts that Animesh will break the national record again this season. 'I think he will break the record again this summer. Given the right race and the right conditions he can blow that (record) out of the water. I am hopeful of some very fast times this season.'
India Gazette
2 hours ago
- Sport
- India Gazette
Indian sprinters win Silver at Asian Championships, secure spot at 2025 World Athletics Championship
Gumi [South Korea], May 31 (ANI): India's women's 4x100m relay team delivered a strong performance at the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea, clinching a silver medal with a timing of 43.86 seconds. The team--comprising Srabani Nanda, Abhinaya Rajarajan, SS Sneha, and Nithya Gandhe--finished second behind China, who took gold with 43.28 seconds. Thailand secured bronze in 44.26 seconds, as per a press release from the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). The result not only brought India a podium finish at the continental level but also secured the relay team's qualification for the World Athletics Championships to be held in Tokyo next year. Among the four sprinters, Sneha's selection and performance hold particular significance for HRDS INDIA SPORTS ACADEMY, which she represents. Her contribution to the medal-winning relay marks the first-ever international medal for the academy, which focuses on identifying and training talent from tribal and underprivileged communities across India. 'This silver medal is not just an individual milestone--it represents the success of a system that believes in talent, discipline, and opportunity,' said the founder secretary of HRDS INDIA. 'We are proud of Sneha and the entire Indian relay team. Their performance in Gumi shows that Indian athletics is moving in the right direction.' The academy has been actively working to build a robust grassroots system to support athletes from marginalised backgrounds, with a long-term vision of contributing to India's Olympic prospects for 2036. Sneha's qualification for the World Championships is seen as validation of that approach. As the athletes prepare for the global stage in Tokyo, the success in Gumi is expected to inspire a new generation of young Indian sprinters. For HRDS INDIA, the medal also reinforces its broader mission: to equip athletes with the training, support, and environment needed to compete at the highest levels of sport. (ANI)
New Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Sport
- New Indian Express
Animesh leads charge as young stars shine at Asian meet
CHENNAI: INDIAN athletics seems to be witnessing a new dawn where athletes don't fear international competitions anymore. Nor do they fear failure on big stage. The transformation from apprehension to infectious confidence seems to have brought in a change in attitude and according to former Athletics Federation of India and current spokesperson Adille Sumariwalla, this is because of quite a few reasons. One of them is exposure to international competitions and another was because of the number domestic competitions the AFI has been conducting. The Asian Athletics Championships has shown that youngsters have started producing results from 18 year-old to mid 20s. Out of the 24 medals India won, 20 of them have been won by those aged 26 or under. In addition to the medals, a few have shattered national and championship records as well. Young sprinter Animesh Kujur (21), javelin thrower Sachin Yadav (25) were among the stars on Saturday. While Animesh shattered his own national record in 200m, Sachin threw his personal best. There was an 18-year-old Abhinaya Rajarajan in the women's 4x100m relay team. On Friday, Pooja, 18, created a U20 national record in high jump. 21 year old heptathlete Nandini Agasara came close to breaking the national record.
The Hindu
3 hours ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Medals, personal best not withstanding, Indian athletes seek bigger prizes
A personal best and a silver medal in his international debut was not enough to satisfy Sachin Yadav. The 25-year-old finished second behind Arshad Nadeem on the final day at the Asian Athletics Championships but insisted his target remains qualifying for the World Championships. 'There were some mistakes made and I could not train as much as I wanted because of ankle and shoulder injuries. I am not very satisfied but am happy to go back with a medal. I will now go back, work hard and try to get better throws in the next competitions,' Sachin said in an interaction from Gumi, South Korea. 'My body was a bit right in the beginning, I was unable to feel the rhythm and get my actions smooth. I even took help from Yashveer Singh in between to relax my muscles a little and it felt better in the last two throws,' he admitted. Animesh Kujur, who also set a new national record of 20.32s in the 200m, breaking his own previous mark set last month, too tried to take motivation from his performance but wasn't too happy. 'I knew it would be hard here because there were faster athletes competing and I was confident I could better my time if I could stay with them. 'I always thought my start is not good but I didn't t let that affect me negatively. At the curve, I felt I was in a good position and tried to maintain that till the finish. But I wasn't very happy during the medal ceremony because getting the gold and having the national anthem played is a different feeling medal ceremony,' he shrugged.
New Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Quiet show by Malaysian athletes on last day in Gumi
Aftar Singh HL Quiet show by Malaysian athletes on last day in Gumi KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's women's 4x100m finished sixth in the Asian Athletics Championships at the Gumi Civic Stadium in South Korea today. The quartet of Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli, Azreen Nabila Alias, Nur Afrina Batrisyia Rizal and Nur Aishah Rofina Aling clocked 44.75. They had set a national record of 44.58 to win bronze in the 2023 Sea Games. In Gumi, the Chinese team (43.28) won gold, India (43.86) and Thailand (44.26) took the silver and bronze respectively. In men's pole vault, Naufal Shahrul Afzam, who has a personal best of 5.10m, cleared 4.97m to finish 14th out of 15 athletes. World Championships silver medallist Ernst John Obiena of the Philippines (5.77m) won gold, China's Huang Bokai (5.72m) and Thailand's Patsapong Amsamarng (5.67m) finished second and third respectively. Malaysia ended the five-day Asian meet with one bronze medal delivered by Irfan Shamsuddin in men's discus.
