- GUMI (SOUTH KOREA) —
Hangzhou Asian Games medallist, Gulveer Singh, sprinted home to win men’s
10,000m gold, while race walker Servin Sebastian bagged bronze on the opening
day of the 26th Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea, on Tuesday.
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- The evening session ended on a disappointing note as Annu
Rani narrowly missed adding a bronze medal to the tally as she finished fourth
in the women's javelin throw.
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- The day belonged to Gulveer as he bagged the first gold of
the campaign for the Indian contingent, as in the morning session, race walker
Servin Sebastian clinched bronze in the 20km race walk.
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- In a battle of wits, Gulveer 26, surged ahead of his rivals
in the last lap of the 10,000m race to post a time of 28:38.63, which was
slower than his personal best of 27:00.22 clocked in March this year.
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- The warm local weather conditions at the time of the 25-lap
race robbed the Indian runner of a fast time; nonetheless, he was elated to
have pocketed gold at the continental meet.
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- “Irrespective of the time, the main goal was to finish
first. I’m happy to have successfully implemented my race strategy,” Singh said
in the post-race interaction. “The gold medal will certainly enhance my world
ranking and brighten chances to win a ticket to the Tokyo World Athletics
Championships in September,” Gulveer was quoted as saying by the Athletics
Federation of India (AFI).
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- The automatic qualification in the men’s 10,000m is
27:00.00. Singh had narrowly missed the qualification mark in March at The Ten
in California, USA. But recorded a personal best of 27:00.22 in California.
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- Athletes can also qualify for the World Championships
through the global ranking system. Tuesday's gold medal in Gumi will improve
Singh’s world ranking.
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- Due to warm weather conditions, the local organising
committee had a water station during the 10,000m track race. Singh said he
conserved every ounce of his energy for the last lap and produced the kick at
the right time.
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- “I surged ahead in the last lap and shifted to top gear at
the 200m mark of the race. Had someone pushed me, I could have gone faster as I
wasn’t tired after crossing the finish line,” the national record holder added.
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- Sawan Barwal, the second Indian in the race, finished fourth
with a time of 28:50.53.
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- Boosted by the gold, Gulveer would be hoping to complete a
grand double in the men’s 5,000m, which is scheduled for the last day of the
championship (May 31). All the runners, including Gulveer, will get enough time
to recover for another exciting race.
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- Earlier in the morning session, Servin Sebastian set the
ball rolling for India by winning the first medal, a bronze in the men’s 20km
race walk. The 26-year-old Army athlete clocked 1:21:13.90, a personal best on
his debut at the continental level.
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- “It was a good race. I’m happy to be among the medal winners
in my first race at the continental,” Sebastian told the AFI after his event.
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- Sebastian has been consistent in his performance since the
beginning of the 2025 season. In February, he won the 20km race walk gold at
the Uttarakhand National Games with a time of 1:21:23. His second gold
(1:21:47) at the domestic event was at the Indian Open Race Walking Competition
in April in Chandigarh.
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- The medal winners in the race walk bettered the championship
record of 1:24:42 set by Japanese Yutaro Murayama at the previous edition of
the continental meet in 2023 in Bangkok.
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- Sebastian stayed with the leading pack of seven athletes for
a major part of the gruelling 20km event. Despite the tempo of the race getting
faster, he continued to maintain a good pace as the leading group was reduced
to three, including one Chinese and one Japanese.
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- However, in the last 2km of the race Wang Zhaozhao and Kento
Yoshikawa opened up a small gap, which eventually widened as the Indian walker
wasn’t able to catch up. “I made efforts to narrow the gap but ended up in
third place,” Sebastian added.
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- Amit, the second Indian race walker, finished fourth.
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- India’s ace female javelin thrower Annu Rani finished fourth
with a distance of 58.30m. She had a series of 56.92m, no mark, 58.30m, 58.11m,
57.80m, and no mark in the final throw.
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- India’s Yoonus Shah advanced to the medal round in the men’s
1500m. Shah finished second in his heat with a time of 3:46.96. Servesh Anil
Kushare also advanced to the final in the men’s high jump.
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- Vishal TK advanced to the men’s 400m final. He clocked 46.05
seconds in the 400m semis. Jay Kumar finished fourth in the 400m semis (46.87
seconds) and missed out on the medal round.
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- Both Rupal Chaudhary and Vithya Ramraj qualified for the
women’s 400m final. Rupal’s time in heat was 53.00 seconds while Vithya clocked
53.32 seconds to advance to the final. Tejaswin Shankar is competing in the
decathlon.
