Neena Varakil became the first Indian long jumper to finish on the Asian Games podium since 2006 when she clinched the silver medal in the 2018 edition in Jakarta on Monday.
The 27-year-old cleared a distance of 6.51m in her fourth attempt to clinch the second place behind Vietnam’s Bui Thi Thu Thao, who took the gold with a jump of 6.55m.
The last Indian to win a long jump medal was Anju Bobby George, who clinched the silver in the 2006 edition.
Neena, whose personal best of 6.66m came two years ago, was always playing catch up to Bui, who recorded her season’s best jump in the very first attempt.
The Indian momentarily slipped to third spot when eventual bronze medallist Xiaoling Xu of China cleared a distance of 6.50m on her fourth attempt. But Neena responded immediately with a jump of 6.51m and though she could not improve on that mark, there was no threat for her silver medal.
The other Indian in the fray, Nayana James, could only managed a best jump of 6.14m and finished 10th among 11 competitors.
