INDIA BAG EIGHT MEDALS AT THE 2023 ASIAN INDOOR ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Indian athletes made the nation proud in Kazakhstan at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships 2023 by bagging as many as eight medals (one gold, six silver and one bronze), thus securing sixth place in the medal tally. India had as many as 25 athletes (13 men & 12 women), across eight events flying to Astana to take part in the 10th edition of the games.

Tajinderpal Singh Toor was the star performer as he brought home the lone gold medal for the nation at the Men’s Shot Put event. The 2018 Asian Games champion produced a personal best throw of 19.49 metres at the indoor games. The Punjab native is also the current national & Asian Games record holder in outdoor games. Karanveer Singh ensured a second medal for India at the event by bagging silver with a throw of 19.37 metres.

Among other medal hopefuls was Jyothi Yarraji, who took part in the 60m & 60m hurdles event. While she couldn’t make it past the heats in the former, the hurdles proved no hindrance for the sensation from Visakhapatnam. The 23-year-old, who trains at the Odisha Reliance Foundation High Performance Center (RF HPC), topped the heats with a new national-record timing of 8.16s & bettered her own record in the final (8.13s) to bag the silver medal.

Among the four other athletes who bagged silver medals was long jumper Jeswin Aldrin, who twice broke the national record with a leap of 7.93m in the qualifications & then with a leap of 7.97m in the Final. Triple Jumper Praveen Chithravel was the other silver medallist as he produced a personal best leap of 16.98 metres.

Meanwhile, Pavithra Venkatesh had to settle for silver despite clearing four metres alongside Japan’s Mayu Nasu. The Khelo India University Games Women's Pole Vault champion missed out on the gold having committed a foul in her first attempt to clear 3.8 metres. Rosy Meena Paulraj, who like Jyothi also trains at the Odisha RF HPC, clinched the bronze in the same event by clearing 3.9 metres.

But all of it began with a silver for India through Swapna Barman, who won silver in Pentathlon on the opening day by amassing a total of 4119 points.

The total tally of eight medals means India registered their best performance at the event since the 2010 edition in Tehran. India’s best-ever performance at the games was in 2008 when they finished on top with a haul of 17 medals which included five golds, nine silvers and three bronze medals.

With a few national records broken, the Indian contingent established a strong footing at the global stage. Not to mention, this has been a wonderful start to the new athletics season which promises to bring more accolades with successive events lined up.

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