India's KT Irfan wins bronze medal in 20km men's event at Asian Race Walk Championships

Nomi, Japan: National record holder KT Irfan clocked an impressive timing to win a bronze in the 20km men’s event in the Asian Race Walk Championships in Nomi on Sunday.

Irfan finished the race in 1 hour 20 minutes and 59 seconds, a tad slower than his national record timing of 1:20.21 which he set while finishing 10th in the 2012 London Olympics.

Korea’s Kim Hyun-Sub took the gold in 1:19:50 while Georgiy Sheiko of Kazakhstan bagged the silver in 1:20:47.

27-year-old Irfan had won the National Race Walking Championships here last month in 1:22:43.48 and has already qualified for the World Championships in London in August.

In the women’s 20km event, India’s Priyanka failed to climb the podium as she finished fourth with a time of 1:37:42.

China’s Wang Na comfortably won the gold medal with an effort of 1:30:51. Host country walker Kumiko Okada finished second in 1:33:31 while Yeongeun Jeon of Korea took the third place in 1:34:35.