Thaindian News

New Delhi, July 7 (IANS) Amidst the gloom caused by doping scandal, some good news for Indian athletics came Thursday as Mayookha Johny won the women’s long jump gold on the opening day of 19th Asian Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan.

According to information received here, men’s discus thrower Vikas Gowda won the silver and Asian Games gold medallist Preeja Sreedharan won bronze in the women’s 10,000 metres.

Mayookha, the 22-year-old from Kerala, won the gold with a leap of 6.56 metres and qualified for the next month’s World Championships at Daegu in South Korea.

China’s Lu Minjia (6.52m) edged Saeko Okayama of Japan (6.51m) to grab the silver. The second Indian jumper in fray, M.A. Prajusha, finished sixth with a jump of 6.27m.

Vikas opened India’s medal quest with a throw of 61.58m in his fifth attempt. Defending champion Ehsan Hadadi of Iran won the gold for the fourth consecutive time.

A slippery ring following last night’s rain made things difficult for the throwers. But Haadi, gold medallist of 2006 and 2010 Asian Games, was in his elements and hurled the disc to 62.27m for the gold. Wu Jian fom China went home with the bronze medal (56.61m).

In the women’s 10,000 metres, Preeja got the bronze medal despite clocking her season’s best time of 33:15.55 while Bahrain runners bagged the top two spots. Shitaye Eshete won the gold with a timing of 32:47.80 and her compatriot Kareema was second clocking 32:50.70.

Another Indian, Kavita Raut, a silver medallist in 2010 Asian Games, finished a disappointing sixth (35:24.35).

India’s long distance runners Suresh Kumar (29:37.62) and Kheta Ram (30:31.85) finished fifth and seventh in the men’s 10,000m.

Bahrainis Mahboob (28:35.49) and Gelasa (28:36.30) won the gold and silver while the bronze went to Akinobu Muraswa of Japan in 28:40.63.