Kobe: Asian Games gold medallist Sudha Singh settled for a silver while Tintu Luka and Ghamanda Ram won a bronze each on the final day as India finished eighth in the Asian Athletics Championships with 11 medals here on Sunday.
Sudha, who was bidding to become the first woman to win both Asian Games and Asian Championships, clocked 10:08.52sec, in 3000m steeplechase — well below her national record timing of 10:10.77secs which she clocked at Guangzhou last year.
It was yet again a case of Luka failing to win gold in a big international event as she finished third in 800m race with a timing of 2:02.55secs — well below her national record timing of 1:59.17 which she set last year.
Luka, who had won a bronze in Asian Games, made a strong challenge to eventual gold and silver winners Thanh Hang Truong (2:01.41s) of Vietnam and Margarita Matsko (2:02.46) of Kazakhstan towards the end but that was not enough.
Ghamanda Ram gave India a bronze in men’s 800m as he finally managed to live up to his potential of being among the best in Asia by winning his maiden Asian Championship medal in personal best timing of 1:46.36s. He missed an Olympic berth by just 0.16 secs.
With the silver and two bronze, India took their medal haul to 11 (one gold, two silver and eight bronze) in the four-day meet, which equalled the tally of last edition held at Guangzhou two years ago. (PTI)
