Asian Indoor Athletics Championships: Tajinder Pal Singh Toor, Jyothi Yarraji rewrite national records with golds

Tehran: Ace shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor and hurdler Jyothi Yarraji rewrote their national records, while long distance sensation Harmilan Bains sizzled on the track as India grabbed three gold medals on the opening day of the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Tehran on Saturday.

Two-time Asian Games gold medallist Toor hurled the shot put at a distance of 19.72 metres in his second attempt for a new national indoor record.

Kazakhstan’s Ivanov Ivan (19.08m) and Iran’s Mehdi Saberi (18.74m) took the silver and bronze medals respectively.

Earlier, Yarraji marginally bettered her own national record by clocking 8.12s in the women’s 60m hurdles to win the gold.

The 2022 Asian Games silver medallist in the 100m hurdles had the previous best timing of 8:13s at the same event last year which had earned her a runner-up finish.

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The 24-year-old athlete topped her heat with a timing of 8:22s and in the final she did better to finish ahead of Japan’s Asuka Tereda (8.21s).

Lui Lai Yiu of Hong Kong (8:26s) took the third place on the podium.

Jyothi is the reigning Asian Outdoor champion in the 100m hurdles, having won the title in Bangkok last year.

She had returned with a silver in the 100m hurdles from Hangzhou Asian Games after initially being disqualified.

Asian Games silver medallist Harmilan Bains blazed the track with a timing of 4:29.55 seconds to bag India’s first gold of the day in the women’s 1500m.

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Harmilan exhibited sheer dominance, finishing over five seconds ahead of her nearest competitor, Kyrgyzstan’s Kalil Kyzy Ainuska, who clinched the silver medal with a time of 4:35.29.

The third position was claimed by Kazakhstan’s Bolatbekkyzy Aiana, crossing the finish line in 4:37.20.

She finished more than five seconds ahead of Kyrgyzstan’s Kalil Kyzy Ainuska who bagged the silver with a timing of 4:35.29. Kazakhstan’s Bolatbekkyzy Aiana came third clocking 4:37.20.

Shaili Singh and Nayana James also competed in the women’s long jump final in the morning session, but failed to get podium positions, registering distances of 6.27m and 6.23m for fifth and sixth place finishes respectively.

Shiqi Xiong (6.55m) and Tan Mengyi (6.50m) of China had the gold-silver, while Hong Kong’s Yue Nga Yan (6.35m) bagged the bronze.

Toor was the only Indian athlete to finish on top of the podium at last year’s meet in Astana where the country had won a total of eight medals including six silver and one bronze.