Indian athletes win 5 medals on opening day of Asian Athletics Championships

Indian athletes won five medals on the opening day of the Asian Athletics Championships in Doha. Javelin thrower Annu Rani and 3000-meter steeple chaser Avinash Sable won the silver medals yesterday.

Quartermiler M P Poovamma, 5000-meter runner Parul Choudhary and 10000-meter runner Gavit Murali Kumar bagged a bronze each on a day which saw sprint sensation Hima Das suffer a lower back spasm during her 400m heat. 

Sprinter Dutee Chand qualified for the semi-finals clocking 11.28 seconds to win the heat number four of



the women's 100-meter race. She bettered her earlier national record of 11.29 seconds which she set last year in Guwahati. M R Poovamma finished second in her 400-meter heat, clocking 52.46 seconds to qualify for the final round. 

Other top Indian athletes advanced to the next round of their respective events. They are Jinson Johnson (men's 800 meters), Muhammed Anas and Arokia Rajiv (both men's 400 meters), Praveen Chitravel (men's triple jump) and Gomathi Marimuthu (women's 1500 meter).