Asian U20 Athletics Championship: Rezoana Mallick Heena wins another gold, Indian contingent claims 19 medals overall

India’s Rezoana Mallick Heena ran a brilliant anchor leg in the women’s 4x400m relay to win her second gold at the Asian U20 Athletics Championship in Yecheon, South Korea, on Wednesday.

Laxita Vinod Sandila was also victorious in women’s 1500m, which enabled the Indian contingent to finish third in the standings with 19 medals. This included six golds, seven silvers, and six bronze medals.

Japan, with 23 medals (14 gold, four silver, and five bronze), topped the chart, while China was second with 19 medals - including 11 gold, five silver, and three bronze.

Earlier in the competition, Rezoana, 16, could have earned another gold but settled for bronze in the mixed relay team. Despite an early fall during the anchor leg of the mixed 4x400m relay event, she got up and finished a creditable third to add a bronze medal to the tally.

Laxita ran a well-judged pace to clock 4:24.23 seconds in the women’s 1500m race to win the fifth gold for India.

In the women's 4x400m relay, Rezoana anchored the team to gold. The Indian team clocked 3:40.49 seconds. Other members of the victorious Indian team were Anushka Dattatray Kumbhar, Riya Nitin Patil, and Kanista Teena.

Kazakhstan won silver with a time of 3:46.19 seconds, while Korea clocked 3:47.46 seconds to win bronze. The men’s 4x400m relay team settled for a silver with a time of 3:08.78 seconds.

Other successes for India at the Asian U20 Athletics Championship

In the men’s 5000m race, India’s Shivaji Parashu Madappagoudra sprinted home to edge past Korean Kim Taehun to win silver with a time of 14:49.05 secs. The Korean won bronze with a time of 14:49.55 secs, while Japan’s Sonata Nagashima took home the gold with a time of 14:23.91 secs.

India’s Mehdi Hasan was also successful in winning a bronze in the men’s 1500m. His time was 3:56.01 seconds. But it wasn’t a good day for Indian long jumper Rajat as he narrowly missed a bronze medal. His best jump was 7.26m, while Chinese Hongming Zhang won bronze with a best jump of 7.34m.

In the women’s 200m, India's Nayana Kokare clocked 24.53 seconds to finish fourth, while Unnathi Aiyappa Bolland finished eighth with a time of 24.96 seconds.

Indian high jumper Aniket Mane, however, bowed out early in the competition. His best jump was 2.03m and failed all his three attempts at 2.06m.

A 45-member Indian team, including 19 female athletes, competed in this age-group continental track and field competition which ran from June 4-7.