Masumi Aoki wins the women's 60m hurdles final at the Asian Indoor Championships in Astana (© Peh Siong San / Asian Athletics Association)
Athletes from Japan ruled the final day’s proceedings at the 10th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Sunday (12), finishing on top of the medals tally and achieving championship records in the women’s long jump and 60m hurdles.
Sumire Hata, who proved her mettle in multiple jumping events and won the Seiko Golden Grand Prix last year, stamped her authority with her very first jump, which was measured at 6.51m. Although it was far enough for her to nail the gold, after a foul in the second round Hata went on to post an improved series of 6.54m, 6.62m, 6.46m and 6.64m.
Hata bettered the previous championship record of 6.40m, which had been held by her compatriot Maho Hanaoka since 2006, four times during the competition.
The experienced home favourite Darya Reznichenko, a silver medallist in the 2014 edition of the Asian Indoor Championships, fought it out with two young Chinese athletes Huang Yingying and Gong Luying for a medal. Gong, after an opening round 6.35m, fouled four of her six attempts and Reznichenko got the bronze with a leap of 6.37m, while 18-year-old Huang jumped 6.43m for the silver.
Sumire Hata in women's long jump action at the Asian Indoor Championships in Astana (© Peh Siong San / Asian Athletics Association)
Japanese record-holder Masumi Aoki had the race of her life to win the women’s 60m hurdles. Getting a blistering start, she went on to win in a championship and national record time of 8.01.
Indian record-holder Jyothi Yarraji had her first indoor experience just three weeks before the championships in Astana. She improved with every race and qualified fastest for the final with a time of 8.16 to win her heat on Saturday.
Yarraji set another national record to finish second in the final in 8.13, ahead of China’s Chen Jiamin (8.15). Chen and Aoki were the silver and bronze medallists, respectively, in the 100m hurdles at the 2019 Asian Championships in Doha.
As expected, Kazakhstan’s David Yefremov took the men’s title, clocking 7.65.
India’s Jeswin Aldrin, who led the qualifiers for the men’s long jump final with 7.93m on the opening day, was beaten to the title by Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-Tang in the final. Aldrin posted an indoor PB of 7.97m on his second attempt but fouled four of his six jumps. Lin, meanwhile, grabbed the gold by leaping 5cm farther. Jeswin, who has an outdoor best of 8.26m, was making his indoor debut, like many of his teammates.
Earlier in the morning, hosts Kazakhstan achieved a medal sweep in the women’s high jump. Area record-holder Nadezhda Dubovitskaya clinched the top spot with a 1.89m clearance, while her teammate Kristina Ovchinnikova finished second on countback after managing the same height. Yelizaveta Matveyeva completed the podium thanks to a 1.84m jump.
Qatar’s Mohamed Al-Garni, who lost the 1500m to Japan’s Kazuto Iizawa on Saturday, had another threat in Sunday’s 3000m in the form of Keita Satoh. The 19-year-old Satoh, a participant in last year’s World U20 Championships in Colombia, led the race until the bell. But Al-Garni kicked during the final lap to overpower his young rival comfortably in the closing stages of the race, winning in 7:55.25. Satoh, running in his first indoor international competition, clocked a 7:56.41 personal best for silver.
Qatar lost its winning streak in the men’s 800m, however, as Kuwait’s Ebrahim Al-Zofairi romped home a surprise winner in 1:49.33 ahead of the experienced Abdirahman Saeed Hassan (1:49.58) and Musaeb Abdulrahman Balla (1:49.68). China’s Wu Hongjiao was the women’s victor in 2:06.85.
In the absence of Philippines’ world bronze medallist Ernest John Obiena, Saudi Arabia’s Hussain Asim Al-Hizam took the men's pole vault spotlight in Astana. After clearing 5.45m on his third try and pocketing the gold comfortably, he attempted 5.61m but was unsuccessful. Al-Hizam has held the national indoor record of 5.70m since 2018.
Japan took the top two spots in the heptathlon, with Yuma Maruyama claiming the gold with 5801 points.
For the first time in Asian Indoor Championships history, Japan took top spot on the medal table with six gold, five silver and four bronze medals. That put the nation just ahead of hosts Kazakhstan (6-3-3), whose medal tally improved rapidly with relay victories on the final day.
Ram. Murali Krishnan for World Athletics
