Latest news with #Gulveer
Hindustan Times
21 hours ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
Asian Athletics C'ship: Teenager Pooja defies odds to win gold
New Delhi: A few days after arriving in Gumi, South Korea, for the Asian Championships, Pooja Singh faced an unexpected challenge. During a training session, one of her shoes tore. The backup pair wasn't giving her the good grip she needed on the track. After discussing the issue with her coach Balwan Singh, Pooja decided to tape the torn spikes and go ahead with her jumps on Friday. For someone who grew up in a family struggling to make ends meet, learned high jump clearing bamboo bars, and landed on mats made of paddy straw (parali), this wasn't the toughest obstacle she had faced. It was just another challenge for her to overcome in her tough journey. On Friday, when she ran towards the High Jump bar at the Gumi Civic Stadium in South Korea, Pooja was brimming with confidence and produced an outstanding performance. The 18-year-old showed no nerves as she won a rare gold for India in one of the toughest disciplines. She cleared 1.89m for her personal best and an U20 national record to win her first major international medal. Having sealed the gold, Pooja went after the national record setting the bar to 1.92m (Sahana Kumari, 2012) but could not clear it. Uzbekistan's Safina Sadullaeva won silver (1.86m) and Kazakhstan's Yelizaveta Matveyeva won bronze for the same height (on countback). 'My body was feeling good and I was enjoying myself. The competition was very good. I almost cleared the national record of 1.92m but missed by a whisker. But I am happy to set my personal best 1.89m and win a gold medal at such a big stage,' said Pooja. Coming from a family of meagre resources from Fatehabad in Haryana, Pooja, a mason's daughter, has seen some tough days but in the last few years, she has emerged as a bright prospect in Indian athletics. With national records in Under-16, Under-18 and Under-20 age groups, her consistent growth has been impressive. While Pooja shone on the field, Indian athletes continued to give blazing performances on the track. Gulveer Singh sprinted to his second gold medal of the meet in great style, winning the 5,000m with a championship record (13:24.77). On the back of his gold medal in 10,000m on the first day, Gulveer showed good control and finished with a terrific last lap. With two laps to go, Gulveer, Kieran Tuntivate of Thailand (silver) and Nagiya Mori of Japan (bronze) were running shoulder to shoulder. Gulveer increased the pace and kept surging ahead even as the other two came close to challenge him but in vain. Gulveer's winning time of 13:24.77 was better than the Asian Championships record of 13:34.47 set by Al Garni Mohamed of Qatar in 2015. The third medal of the day was bagged by Nandini Agasara in heptathlon. Nandini was in the lead after the first day. On Friday, she slipped to second place after her javelin performance (34.18m) but made a strong comeback to win the 800m race. She finished with 5941 points ahead of China's Liu Jingyi (5869 points) and Cai Juan Chen of Taipei (5608 points). Nandini, the Asian Games bronze medallist, is only the third Indian heptathlete to win the continental title after Swapna Barman (2017) and Soma Biswas (2005). Parul Chaudhary gave her best in the 3,000m steeplechase, claiming silver medal. Though she could not defend her title, her timing of 9:12.96 improved national record. Kazakhstan's Norah Jeruto Tanui, the 2022 world champion, was too strong for the rest of the field and led from start-to-finish setting a new meet record (9:10.46). In javelin, Sachin Yadav (79.62m) and Yashvir Singh (76.67m) qualified the final scheduled on Saturday. Olympic champion from Pakistan Arshad Nadeem, competing for the first time since the Paris high, topped the qualification with a throw of 86.34m. However, the day for India belonged to Pooja who brought home a medal to cherish. Her journey has been nothing short of inspirational. Coach Balwan Singh, a former sprinter, trained Pooja at his academy (Parta Sports Academy) with the bare minimum facilities at his disposal. He innovated, took help from others and tried to match the passion of his ward. Pooja used to do yoga and gymnastics before switching to high jump.'Her flexibility and explosive speed were suited to high jump. Besides, she is very disciplined and hasn't missed a single day of training all these years. 'Bringing her up from grassroots till here has been a difficult journey. The resources were limited. Her family is not financially well off but they fully supported her. We kept taking one step at a time, arranged for her shoes and diet, sometimes asking my friends to sponsor,' he said. Looking back, Pooja recalled the days when even getting a proper landing mat was a struggle. 'I have reached here after a lot of hard work and struggle and my parents and coach have supported me all through,' Pooja said during an interaction on Friday. 'In 2019, I shifted to high jump. When I started we did not have a mat and I practiced on sacks filled with parali (rice stubble),' she said. 'For 2-3 years I trained like that before my coach arranged an old mat. I broke the U-16 national record (1.76m) practicing on it.' The early struggles have given her a mental resolve that will continue to serve her well even as she scales ever-increasing heights. The bar has been set high indeed.
The Hindu
a day ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
Gulveer completes a double; Pooja, Nandini too corner glory
Gulveer Singh became only the second Indian to claim the 5,000m-10,000m double gold at the Asian Athletics Championships and high jumper Pooja had the distinction of being the country's youngest champion in this edition as India added three gold and a silver to its tally on the penultimate day of the competition in Gumi, South Korea, on Friday. With this, India now has eight gold — two more than 2023 — seven silver and three bronze. Gulveer clocked 13:24.77 to add the 5K to his 10K gold from day one to emulate Govindan Lakshmanan's feat from 2017 and complete his double. Preserving energy but still staying part of the five-member leader pack till the last lap in hot and humid conditions, Gulveer gradually accelerated to open space, then kicked off with a burst of power in the final 200m to take the lead. Even though Kieran Tuntivate of Thailand and Nagiya Mori of Japan pushed hard, Gulveer had no problems crossing the finish line comfortably in front. Abhishek Pal finished sixth in 13:33.51. In heptathlon, Agasara Nandini consolidated her lead at the top to win gold in style to finish with 5941 points. In the process, she also improved her personal best by more than 100 points, having totalled 5813 during the recent Federation Cup. But the biggest surprise was from 18-year old Pooja, who set a new under-20 national record with a massive 1.89m jump to not only become the Asian champion in her maiden international outing at any level but also ensure India's first gold in a field event at the ongoing competition. Pooja, who jumped 1.85m at the national under-18 championships last year and equalled it at the Indian Open last month, also became only the second Indian woman high jumper to win a medal at the Asians after Bobby Aloysius in 2002. In the 3.000m steeplechase, Parul Chaudhary broke her own national record for the second time in less than a fortnight but was still unable to defend her title, managing a silver in 9:12.46, two seconds behind Norah Jeruto Tanui of Kazakhstan. The former Kenyan World champion had switched nationalities in 2022. Both Pooja and Twinkle Chaudhary, meanwhile, advanced to the final of the 800m, the former with a personal best of 2:02.70 in second spot and latter in 2:04.21. Krishan Kumar and Anu Kumar too booked their spots in the 800m with top-two finishes in their respective heats. Anu Raghavan and Vithya Ramraj too advanced to the 400m hurdles final while Animesh Kujur did so in the 200m. In the morning session, Sachin Yadav and Yashvir Singh both advanced to the javelin throw finals with efforts of 79.62m and 76.67m respectively for automatic qualification. Pakistan's Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem, in his first competition since the Paris Games, threw a massive 86.34m in his opening attempt to top the qualification. The Indian men's 4x100m side, however, had to face a disastrous disqualification after officials deemed the first baton between Pranav Gurav and Ragul Kumar was exchanged outside the designated zone. With just 10 teams and eight spots in the final, it would have been a breeze for the Indians. Surprisingly, national record holder Gurindervir Singh was not fielded in the heat.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
a day ago
- Sport
- Business Standard
Asian Athletics: India's gold rush continues; Gulveer, Pooja fetch gold
The national-record-holding runner clocked 13:24.77sec to edge past Thailand's Kieran Tuntivate, who finished close behind at 13:24.97sec, while Japan's Nagiya Mori took bronze in 13:25.06sec. Press Trust of India Gumi (South Korea) Long-distance runner Gulveer Singh shattered a decade-old meet record, high-jumper Pooja Singh delivered a personal best show, while heptathlete Nandini Agasara rose to the occasion after a setback as the trio added three more gold medals to India's kitty on the penultimate day of the 26th Asian Athletics Championships here on Friday. The country's overall tally swelled to 18, including eight gold, seven silver and three bronze medals. India look well on course to match or better the 27 medals won in the 2023 edition, having already surpassed the gold haul of six medals in that year. Gulveer etched his name among the greats of Indian long-distance running by winning a tightly-contested men's 5000m final to add to his 10,000m gold won on the opening day of the competition. The national-record-holding runner clocked 13:24.77sec to edge past Thailand's Kieran Tuntivate, who finished close behind at 13:24.97sec, while Japan's Nagiya Mori took bronze in 13:25.06sec. The previous championship record belonged to Qatar's Mohamed Al-Garni, who had clocked 13:34.47sec in the 2015 edition. Later, 18-year-old Pooja jumped to a personal best of 1.89m in her penultimate attempt to finish ahead of Uzbekistan's Safina Sadullaeva (1.86m). The Haryana teen, whose father is a construction worker, has been doing well at the continental level, having earlier collected a gold at the Asian Under-23 Championships in 2023. Nandini then became only the third Indian heptathlete to win an Asian gold after Swapna Barman (2017) and Soma Biswas (2005). Agasara collected 5941 points to bag the top honours, making a strong comeback to win the 800m race after a poor javelin throw performance of 34.18m. China's Liu Jingyi, who led Agasara after winning javelin throw, claimed the silver with 5869 points. Gulveer the great The win completed a remarkable double for Gulveer, who had earlier bagged gold in the 10,000m competition on the opening day with a timing of 28:38.63sec. With this performance, Gulveer joined an elite group of Indian athletes to have won gold in the men's 5000m event of the continental meet -- the other three being Gopal Saini (1981), Bahadur Prasad (1993), and G Lakshmanan (2017). He matched Lakshmanan in winning gold in both the 10,000m and 5000m events in the same edition. The 26-year-old from Atrauli in Uttar Pradesh had also won a bronze in the 2023 edition. However, there was mild disappointment in the women's 3000m steeplechase, where defending champion Parul Chaudhary had to settle for silver. She clocked 9:12.46sec and was bested by Kazakhstan's Norah Jeruto Tanui (9:10.46sec). The bronze also went to a Kazakh, Daisy Jepkemei (9:27.51sec). 4x100m men's relay team disqualified Earlier, India's 4x100m men's relay team was disqualified during the preliminary round after a faulty baton exchange but Sachin Yadav and Yashvir Singh made the men's javelin throw finals alongside reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan. The quartet of Pranav Pramod Gaurav, Ragul Kumar Ganesh, Manikanta Hoblidhar and Amlan Borgohain was knocked out of the competition after being found guilty of baton exchange outside the takeover zone, violating World Athletics' Technical Rule 24.7. The Malaysian team was also disqualified for a similar violation. However, there was good news for the Indian contingent elsewhere as Sachin and Yashvir entered the 12-man javelin throw final. While Sachin covered 79.62m to be placed fifth, Yashvir qualified for Saturday's finale with a throw of 76.67m. At the top was Nadeem, who is appearing in his first competition since the gold-winning monstrous throw of 92.97m in the Paris Olympics last year. He came up with an effort of 86.34m in the qualifying round. In other events, women's 100m hurdles gold-winner Jyothi Yarraji and Nithya Gandhe advanced to the 200m finals after clocking 23.74sec and 23.77sec respectively in their heats. In the men's 200m event, Animesh Kujur entered the finals after clocking 20.81sec in the semifinal race. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV
a day ago
- Sport
- NDTV
India's Gold Rush Continues In Asian Athletics Championships; Gulveer Singh Shatters Decade-Old Record
Gumi (South Korea): Long-distance runner Gulveer Singh shattered a decade-old meet record, high-jumper Pooja Singh delivered a personal best show, while heptathlete Nandini Agasara rose to the occasion after a setback as the trio added three more gold medals to India's kitty on the penultimate day of the 26th Asian Athletics Championships here on Friday. The country's overall tally swelled to 18, including eight gold, seven silver and three bronze medals. India look well on course to match or better the 27 medals won in the 2023 edition, having already surpassed the gold haul of six medals in that year. Gulveer etched his name among the greats of Indian long-distance running by winning a tightly-contested men's 5000m final to add to his 10,000m gold won on the opening day of the competition. The national-record-holding runner clocked 13:24.77sec to edge past Thailand's Kieran Tuntivate, who finished close behind at 13:24.97sec, while Japan's Nagiya Mori took bronze in 13:25.06sec. The previous championship record belonged to Qatar's Mohamed Al-Garni, who had clocked 13:34.47sec in the 2015 edition. Later, 18-year-old Pooja jumped to a personal best of 1.89m in her penultimate attempt to finish ahead of Uzbekistan's Safina Sadullaeva (1.86m). The Haryana teen, whose father is a construction worker, has been doing well at the continental level, having earlier collected a gold at the Asian Under-23 Championships in 2023. Nandini then became only the third Indian heptathlete to win an Asian gold after Swapna Barman (2017) and Soma Biswas (2005). Agasara collected 5941 points to bag the top honours, making a strong comeback to win the 800m race after a poor javelin throw performance of 34.18m. China's Liu Jingyi, who led Agasara after winning javelin throw, claimed the silver with 5869 points. Gulveer the great The win completed a remarkable double for Gulveer, who had earlier bagged gold in the 10,000m competition on the opening day with a timing of 28:38.63sec. With this performance, Gulveer joined an elite group of Indian athletes to have won gold in the men's 5000m event of the continental meet -- the other three being Gopal Saini (1981), Bahadur Prasad (1993), and G Lakshmanan (2017). He matched Lakshmanan in winning gold in both the 10,000m and 5000m events in the same edition. The 26-year-old from Atrauli in Uttar Pradesh had also won a bronze in the 2023 edition. However, there was mild disappointment in the women's 3000m steeplechase, where defending champion Parul Chaudhary had to settle for silver. She clocked 9:12.46sec and was bested by Kazakhstan's Norah Jeruto Tanui (9:10.46sec). The bronze also went to a Kazakh, Daisy Jepkemei (9:27.51sec). 4x100m men's relay team disqualified Earlier, India's 4x100m men's relay team was disqualified during the preliminary round after a faulty baton exchange but Sachin Yadav and Yashvir Singh made the men's javelin throw finals alongside reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan. The quartet of Pranav Pramod Gaurav, Ragul Kumar Ganesh, Manikanta Hoblidhar and Amlan Borgohain was knocked out of the competition after being found guilty of baton exchange outside the takeover zone, violating World Athletics' Technical Rule 24.7. The Malaysian team was also disqualified for a similar violation. However, there was good news for the Indian contingent elsewhere as Sachin and Yashvir entered the 12-man javelin throw final. While Sachin covered 79.62m to be placed fifth, Yashvir qualified for Saturday's finale with a throw of 76.67m. At the top was Nadeem, who is appearing in his first competition since the gold-winning monstrous throw of 92.97m in the Paris Olympics last year. He came up with an effort of 86.34m in the qualifying round. In other events, women's 100m hurdles gold-winner Jyothi Yarraji and Nithya Gandhe advanced to the 200m finals after clocking 23.74sec and 23.77sec respectively in their heats. In the men's 200m event, Animesh Kujur entered the finals after clocking 20.81sec in the semifinal race.
Hans India
a day ago
- Sport
- Hans India
Asian Athletics C'ships: Gulveer wins 5000m gold; Pooja bags women's high jump gold, Parul breaks women's steeplechase NR
Gumi (South Korea): India's long-distance runner Gulveer Singh clinched his second gold at the Asian Athletics Championships after winning the men's 5000m with a Championship Record on Friday. Gulveer, who won the men's 10,000m gold on the opening day of the competition, clocked 13:24.78 to set a new championship record, surpassing Mohamed Al-Garni's 13:34.47 set in 2015, to clinch the gold medal in the 5000m race. The 26-year-old from Uttar Pradesh had previously taken bronze in the same event at the last edition in Bangkok. In March this year, the Hangzhou Asian Games bronze medallist bettered his own men's 10,000m national record, clocking 27:00.22s at The Ten 2025 athletics meet. Earlier this year, Gulveer Singh also pocketed the men's 3000m indoor national record and the Asian 5000m short track record at an athletics meet in Boston. In the women's high jump, Pooja clinched a gold medal with a season-best effort of 1.89m. In the process, she also broke her own Under-20 national record. Moreover, the 18-year-old became the second Indian to win a medal in the high jump at the Asian Championships after Bobby Aloysius, who won gold in 2000 and silver in 2002. Nandini Agasara then added the third gold to the day's tally after winning the women's heptathlon with 5941 points. Earlier in the day, Parul Chaudhary won silver in the women's 3000m steeplechase, clocked 9:12.46 and set a new national record. She also held the previous record of 9:13.39, set at the 2025 Doha Diamond League. Meanwhile, Animesh Kujur stormed into the final of the men's 200m event after finishing second in the semifinal, clocking 20.81s. India are currently second in the medal tally with 18 medals, including eight gold, seven silver and three bronze, behind China's tally of 24 medals (15 gold, eight silver and three bronze).
