Sharifa Davronova at the inaugural Asian U23 Championships in Ordos (© Asian Athletics 
Edwin Koo)
Two-time world U20 triple jump champion Sharifa Davronova and sprinter Muhammad Azeem Fahmi were among the winners as a new chapter was added to Asian Athletics history with the inaugural Asian U23 Championships taking place in Ordos from 9-12 July.
Malaysian record-holder Fahmi lived up to his billing by taking the 100m crown in 10.17 (-0.7m/s) on the first day of competition. Fahmi, a bronze medallist at the 2023 Asian Games in Guangzhou, is a student in the United States and helped Auburn University wrest sprint relay titles at the NCAA Championships in 2024 and 2025.
He sent an early warning with 10.15 in the heats. In the final, he edged past Falah Al-Khazaali for the gold, the Iraqi sprinter clocking a national record 10.21 for silver. Qatar’s Salah Nur Ismail Yunis finished third, while home favourite Zeng Keli finished joint fourth with his Chinese teammate Xia Jianduo.
“It is a good sign, winning here, going towards the Asian Games,” said Fahmi.
Xue Kunzhi brought some cheer to the home crowd as she won her 100m title in a personal best of 11.37 (0.7m/s) less than three weeks on from forming part of the Chinese 4x100m team that secured Asian Relays silver in Shaoxing.
“I have improved my PBs several times this year and attained the Chinese athletics international standard here,” she said.
Xue was a non-starter in the 200m, while Fahmi was disqualified for a false start. China’s Huang Youwen (20.43w) and Jiang Yutong (23.47) clinched the titles.
India won a thriller in the mixed pelay, pipping China at the post.
The men's 100m final at the Asian U23 Championships in Ordos (© Asian Athletics 
Edwin Koo)
Impressive field work on Friday
Chinese Taipei’s world U20 silver medallist Chu Pin-Hsun unleashed a personal best of 57.31m to win the women’s javelin on day two. China’s world U20 bronze medallist Ma Yinglong also set a PB of 17.11m to win the men’s triple jump.
The penultimate day witnessed an impressive 400m hurdles victory from the host nation’s Xu Xinfeng. He equalled the national record (48.68) for the top spot ahead of Sri Lankan Ayomal Akalanka Liyanage (49.03).
“My pre-race goal was simply to dip under 49 seconds, hence clocking my PB and equalling the national record was completely unexpected,” said Xu. “This result has given me a huge confidence boost.”
Shinya Hayashi, who was part of the Japanese team at this year’s World Relays in Gaborone, won the men’s 400m with the second-best time of his career, 45.26. Last year’s Asian Championships bronze medallist Dhzonbibi Khukmova of Uzbekistan clocked a personal best of 51.19 for the women’s title, well ahead of second-placed Naomi Kaylia Johnson (52.34) from the Philippines – a student at the University of California Los Angeles, who a few weeks earlier became eligible to participate for the Southeast Asian nation.
Braving the rain, Qatari pole vaulter Seifeldin Abdelsalam scaled 5.45m to win his favourite event. Abdelsalam, a world finalist in Tokyo with a 5.75m clearance, was an Asian U20 champion two years ago.
Davronova delivers best mark on final day
The highlight of the final day was achieved by triple jumper Sharifa Davronova of Uzbekistan. The two-time world U20 champion, who is also the Asian Games and World University Games champion, cheered the crowd with her 14.24m jump to set a standard for the upcoming athletes to follow at the championships.
In another interesting contest, two of the top Indian javelin throwers, Anand Singh (80.57m) and Shivam Lohakare (77.70m), made it to the podium. While Singh improved his PB to clinch the gold, Lohakare was almost six and a half metres behind his best from last year to finish third. China’s world U20 silver medallist Wang Xiaobo snatched the silver with a 79.41m throw.
China’s unheralded Zhao Shiqi (13.38) and Zhang Zijun (13.41) set PBs to secure the top two spots in the 110m hurdles ahead of Qatar’s world U20 finalist and Asian U20 champion Oumar Doudai Abakar.
Chinese relay quartets won three of the four finals decided on the concluding day. India dominated the women’s 4x400m in 3:33.62.
Host China finished top of the medals tally with 23 gold, 17 silver and 12 bronze medals followed by Japan (7-8-7), Uzbekistan (5-4-1), India (3-4-9), Qatar (3-2-3) and Chinese Taipei (3-1-1). A total of 14 of the 27 participating countries won at least one medal.
Ram. Murali Krishnan for World Athletics
