Athletics: Long jumper Ancy leads medal rush, but gold eludes India on dramatic day

India added five more medals to its athletics haul on Sunday, but the elusive gold continued to stay out of reach at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.

The five-medal haul, two silver and three bronze, took India’s athletics tally to 13 medals (six silver and seven bronze), but there was no yellow metal to show for a dramatic evening at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium.

A glance at the schedule had raised hopes that Sunday could finally bring India its first athletics gold of the Games, and perhaps even its first individual gold. Instead, there were near-misses, last-attempt heartbreak and several reminders of just how fine the margins can be at the Asian Games.

The most dramatic of them all came in the women’s long jump.

ANCY'S DRAMATIC LONG JUMP SILVER

Ancy Sojan had gold in her sights for much of the competition and eventually settled for silver after a thrilling final-attempt finish.

The 25-year-old opened with 6.49m and remained in the lead for much of the competition. She then improved to 6.53m with her second jump and looked set to become only the second Indian woman, after Anju Bobby George, to win Asian Games gold in the event.

China’s Huang Yingying, however, produced a 6.49m jump in her fifth attempt. Ancy retained the lead on countback, having recorded the better second-best jump.

Then came the final attempt.

Huang produced a 6.55m jump to snatch the gold. Ancy had one last chance to respond but could manage only 6.49m, leaving her with silver.

It was still a significant achievement. Ancy became only the second Indian woman after Anju Bobby George to win multiple Asian Games medals in the long jump.

There was heartbreak at the other end of the Indian field, too.

Shaili Singh was sitting in the bronze-medal position heading into the final attempt, but China’s Tan Mengyi produced a 6.46m jump to leapfrog her. Shaili could manage 6.42m with her final effort and finished fourth.

India had looked set to have two women on the long jump podium. In the end, only Ancy made it there.

TEJASWIN'S SECOND ASIAD DECATHLON MEDAL

Tejaswin Shankar, meanwhile, secured his second Asian Games medal with bronze in the decathlon, but not before a dramatic swing in fortunes across the two-day competition.

The Commonwealth Games bronze medalist was in gold-medal position after the opening day, having finished first in both the long jump and high jump. He began the second day with the lead but slipped down the standings as the competition progressed, before fighting his way back into the top three.

His 10 events:

• 100m: 10.98 — 5th
• Long Jump: 7.53m — 1st
• Shot Put: 13.16m — 5th
• High Jump: 2.18m — 1st 4
• 00m: 48.59 — 3rd
• 110m Hurdles: 14.33 — 3rd
• Discus: 36.77m — 7th
• Pole Vault: 4.30m — 8th
• Javelin: 53.37m — 5th
• 1500m: 4:33.09 — 1st

Tejaswin saved his best for last, winning the 1500m in 4:33.09 to finish with 7,934 points and secure bronze.

He had won silver in the decathlon at the 2022 Asian Games and now has back-to-back medals in the event.

SARVESH WINS HIGH JUMP SILVER

Sarvesh Kushare also came agonisingly close to gold, winning silver in the men’s high jump for his maiden Asian Games medal.

With four-time Olympic medallist Mutaz Barshim withdrawing because of injury, the door appeared open for Sarvesh to go all the way. But Chinese Taipei’s Fu Chao-hsuan cleared 2.25m on his first attempt, while Sarvesh needed two attempts to clear the same height.

That proved decisive.

Sarvesh failed to clear 2.28m, which would have given him the gold, and eventually lost out on countback. His best of 2.25m was also below his personal best of 2.31m.

The 31-year-old has been one of India's most improved field athletes and arrived in Aichi-Nagoya after winning Commonwealth Games silver. He also made his Diamond League debut earlier this year and will now have the Los Angeles Olympics firmly in his sights.

PARUL BAGS BRONZE WITH NATIONAL RECORD

Parul Chaudhary added another medal to her growing Asian Games collection, winning bronze in the women's 3000m steeplechase with a new personal best and national record of 9:08.67.

It was her third Asian Games medal, adding to the steeplechase silver and 5000m gold she won at the 2022 Hangzhou Games.

Parul ran with clarity throughout, staying with the pace-setting group before making her move on the final lap. Given the quality of the race, she needed a personal best to get onto the podium — and she delivered.

Bahrain's Winfred Yavi, the Paris Olympic champion, won gold in an Asian Games record 9:04.36.

Ankita also produced a personal best of 9:19.24 but narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth.

HARITA IMPRESSES ON DEBUT

Harita Bhadra ensured India’s medal rush continued with bronze in the women's 200m on her Asian Games debut.

The 23-year-old from Haryana clocked 23.20 seconds, edging Japan's Ido Abigeirufuka by just 0.01 seconds in a thrilling finish.

Singapore's Shanti Pereira won gold in a season-best 22.78 seconds, while China's Chen Yujie took silver in 22.93 seconds. The other Indian in the final, Unnathi Aiyappa Bolland, finished sixth in 23.48 seconds.

The result capped a memorable debut for Harita. In a heartwarming moment after the race, Unnathi embraced her teammate as Harita stood wrapped in the Indian flag.

Five medals, plenty of drama — but still no gold.

India will get another chance on Monday, when Murali Sreeshankar takes part in the men's long jump, Avinash Sable lines up in the men's 3000m steeplechase, Rohit Yadav competes in the men's javelin and Gulveer Singh features in the men's 1500m.

Sreeshankar qualified for the final with a best effort of 7.84m, behind Uzbekistan's Anvar Anvarov, who was the lone man to clear the automatic qualification mark of 8m.

The search for that elusive athletics gold continues.

ATHLETICS MEDALISTS ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

• Ancy Sojan — Women’s Long Jump Final — Silver
• Sarvesh Kushare — Men’s High Jump Final — Silver
• Tejaswin Shankar — Men’s Decathlon — Bronze
• Parul Chaudhary — Women’s 3000m Steeplechase Final — Bronze
• Harita Bhadra — Women’s 200m Final — Bronze

OTHER FINALS

4th

• Shaili Singh — Women’s Long Jump
• Ankita — Women’s 3000m Steeplechase

5th

• Animesh Kujur — Men’s 200m

6th

• Unnathi Aiyappa Bolland — Women’s 200m
• Nandhini Kongan — Women’s 100m Hurdles

13th

• Aadarsh Jothi Shankar — Men’s High Jump

QUALIFICATIONS

• Mohammed Afsal — Men’s 800m Heats — Qualified
• Santosh Kumar Tamilaarasan — Men’s 400m Hurdles Heats — Qualified
• Vithya Ramraj / Anu Raghavan — Women’s 400m Hurdles Heats — Qualified
• Team India — Women’s 4x100m Relay Heats — Qualified
• M. Sreeshankar / D. Solomon — Men’s Long Jump — Qualified