India win three athletics medals at Asian Games but Anju Bobby George laments missed opportunities
India's athletics contingent secured three medals at the Asian Games on Saturday, September 26, but Athletics Federation of India vice-president Anju Bobby George said the day left a sense of missed opportunities. Sawan Barwal (silver, men's marathon), Tajinderpal Singh Toor (silver, men's shot put) and Prachi Chaudhary (bronze, women's 400m) were the day's medallists for India.
George said India had entered the day expecting more top finishes and voiced disappointment with the overall outcome. “Frankly speaking, we are not entirely happy because we were expecting a few more gold medals,” George said on the Sony Sports Network. Several athletes viewed as strong medal prospects were either unable to compete or finished below the podium.
The campaign suffered serious setbacks when two previous medallists were forced out by injury. Jyothi Yarraji, the silver medallist from the previous Asian Games, withdrew before her 100m hurdles heat after feeling pain during her warm-up, according to an AFI official. Praveen Chithravel was unable to complete his opening triple-jump attempt after clutching his leg in pain; Karthik Unnikrishnan finished sixth in that event. “Praveen was actually leading his group before he suffered a hamstring injury on his runway attempt,” George said. “With Jyothi, she was already dealing with pain; we believed she could manage it, but she felt sharp discomfort during her warm-up and had to withdraw.” “Losing those two sure-shot medals made it a tough day for us,” she added.
Several track events produced narrow misses for India. National record holder Vishal TK finished fifth in the men's 400m final in 45.48 seconds, failing to reproduce his season-best in the final. In the women's 1500m, Parul Chaudhary placed fourth in 4:09.46 while Pooja finished sixth in 4:16.78, leaving the squad with multiple near-podium results.
Tajinderpal Singh Toor, bidding for a third successive Asian Games title, took silver in the men's shot put after Iran's Mohammadreza Tayebi set a Games record of 20.81m; Saudi Arabia's Mohammed Tolu claimed bronze with 20.48m. “We always expect gold from him because he is a top-class athlete and an Asian record holder,” George said. “Performing near his best under rainy conditions to secure silver in his third Asian Games appearance is remarkable,” she said.
Weather conditions affected the day's competitions, particularly the field events and the throwing circle, according to George. “It’s an outdoor event, so weather plays a big part,” George said, and she noted that five Asian Games records were broken across various events during the programme.
Three podium finishes provided a tangible return for India, but the combination of injuries to Yarraji and Chithravel, Toor's missed bid for a third straight shot-put gold and near misses from Vishal and Parul left the Indian camp wondering what might have been.
