Highly-rated Jisna Mathew picked up India’s second gold medal at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships at Gifu in Japan on Friday. The 19-year-old eased to a win with a time of 53.26, beating the rain. However, her effort was far below her personal best of 52.65.
The Indian contingent added five other bronze medals on Thursday. Durga Deore was the first to get on the podium, finishing third in the women’s 1,500 metres. The race, though, had only four competitors.
Despite earning a bronze medal, Sreeshankar disappointed after going to the long jump event as the favourite to win. He covered 7.47 metres, well below his season best of 7.99. Lokesh finished seventh in the event.
Abhinaya Shetty also got a bronze with an effort of 1.75 metres in the women’s high jump event. Kartik Kumar impressed to finish third in the men’s 10,000 metres event.
The other Indian athlete, Gurpreet, finished seventh. Short putter Ashish Bhalothia was the surprise package of the day but despite bringing home a bronze medal, he was below his personal best of 18.22.