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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.'
The Star
2 hours ago
- Sport
- The Star
Aaron-Wooi Yik storm into Singapore Open final
PETALING JAYA: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik stayed on course for another title after battling past India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty to reach the men's doubles final at the Singapore Open. The world No. 5 pair showed nerves early on in the semi-final clash at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Saturday (May 31), allowing the Indian duo to draw first blood. But Aaron-Wooi Yik roared back in the second game, stepping up their intensity to force a decider. The Malaysians looked to be cruising in the rubber set when they opened up a seven-point lead, only to let their opponents claw back into contention. But a decisive smash from Wooi Yik finally sealed a hard-fought 19-21, 21-10, 21-18 victory after 63 minutes. This marks their fourth consecutive final appearance, including their title run at the Asian Championships in Ningbo in April. Standing in their way in Sunday's final are South Koreans Seo Seung-jae-Kim Won-ho, who earlier overcame Denmark's Kim Astrup-Anders Skarrup Rasmussen in the other semi-final.
Indian Express
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
Kunlavut Vitidsarn rises to the top: A new world No 1 in badminton men's singles as Thai shuttler reaches summit
There will be a new World No 1 in badminton as Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn confirmed his rise to the summit of men's singles. After his semifinal win at the Singapore Open Super 750 on Saturday, the reigning world champion will also become the world No 1 when the BWF rankings are updated on Tuesday. Vitidsarn overcame Lin Chun Yi in a near one-hour clash 21-11, 25-23 to set up a rematch of the Asian Championships final against China's Lu Guang Zu. Irrespecitve of the result on Sunday, he has earned enough points to topple Shi Yu Qi, who was knocked out earlier in the week by Lu. Vitidsarn continues to be the flagbearer for that brilliant junior Class of 2018 that includes Li Shi Feng, Kodai Naraoka and India's Lakshya Sen. The Thailand pioneer has won Olympic Games silver (losing to Viktor Axelsen last year in Paris), the World Championships gold & silver, the Asian Championships gold and now climbing to the top of the world ladder. The four men on the podium of the 2018 BWF World Junior Championships were: Kunlavut Vitidsarn (gold), Kodai Naraoka (silver), Lakshya Sen and Li Shi Feng (bronze). Lakshya and Li Shi Feng played the final of the Youth Olympic Games that year, with the Indian winning silver. And at the Asian Championships, Lakshya won gold while Vitidsarn won silver. Axelsen had good things to say about Vitidsarn after their battle in the World Championships final in 2022. 'Vitidsarn's a great guy, he's strong mentally and physically,' Axelsen said after his run to gold in Tokyo. 'I knew it would be a tough game. I'm happy with the way I responded to his gameplan in the second. He made it hard for me and I stiffened up a little bit, but I turned it around again. He's a cool guy, on and off the court. He's 21, and we've already played a few matches against each other, and also in other finals. I think there's many good things for him to come. Hopefully we can have many good matches in future.' Vitidsarn is no stranger to firsts. He won the Junior World Championships thrice, the first male shuttler to do so in singles. And at the Asian Championships earlier this year he became the first Thai men's singles champion in 63 years. And having achieved plenty in his career already, Vitidsarn set his sights on All England, where he is yet to taste success. 'I've won the Asian Youth Championship before, and to be able to win in the elite level is really very happy and very meaningful,' Vitidsarn had told BWF after his triumph in Ningbo. My next goal is to win the All England. I've won the World Championships and won a silver medal in the Olympics, but I've finished early at several All Englands so I hope to improve my performances at the All England Open next year.'
Indian Express
8 hours ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
Asian Athletics Championships 2025: Gold, silver & bronze count — overall medal tally; Check full list of Indian medal winners
Indians are having a great run at the ongoing Asian Athletics Championships 2025, taking place in Gumi, South Korea. India won three gold medals on Friday, bringing its total to eight gold medals and increasing its overall haul to 18 medals, which comfortably places it second in the standings behind China, which leads with 15 gold medals and a total of 26 medals in the event to date. India's middle-distance runner Gulveer Singh has claimed two out of these eight gold medals in this event. He finished first in the men's 10,000m and 5,000m races. Avinash Sable in men's 3000m steeplechase, Jyothi Yarraji in women's 100m hurdles, Pooja Singh in women's high jump, and Nandini Agasara in Heptathlon are the other Indians who have won gold medals in individual events. In team events, the quartet of Santosh Kumar, Rupal Chaudhary, Vishal and Subha Venkatesan clinched the gold medal in the mixed 4x400m relay race, while Rupal and Subha were also part of the women's team, which bagged gold in the women's 4x400m race alongside Jisna Mathew and Rajitha. Rupal has to be the breakout star of this Indian contingent in South Korea as he won the third medal, a silver this time, in the women's 400m race. After the day ended on Friday, India had grabbed seven silver and three bronze medals in addition to eight gold medals. India's best finish in the medal table was in 2017 in front of the home crowd in Bhubaneswar, where they finished first with 27 medals that included nine gold, six silver, and 12 bronze. This was also India's best medal haul at Asian Championships, which India repeated in the 2023 Bangkok edition as well. The best gold medal haul for India came in 1985 in Jakarta, where India won 10 gold medals. (Both tables updated after Friday)
The Hindu
9 hours ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Asian Athletics Championships 2025: Arshad Nadeem claims gold, Sachin Yadav wins silver
Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem clinched the gold medal while India's Sachin Yadav claimed silver in the javelin throw event at the Asian Athletics Championships 2025 in Gumi, South Korea on Saturday. Nadeem's best throw of 86.40m, which helped him claim his maiden Asian Championships medal, is also the Asian best for the season. Sachin notched up a Personal Best with his best throw of 85.16m. His compatriot in Yash Vir Singh finished fifth but also recorded a Personal Best with a 82.57m throw. Nadeem started slowly, registering only 75.45m with his first throw. But the Olympic Champion changed gears soon to take the lead with a 85.47m throw. The Pakistani athlete finished off with a 86.40m to become the Asian Champion. Japan's Yuta Sakiyama clinched bronze with a personal best throw of 83.75m.
