India’s Sunil Kumar fought back to win decathlon title at Asian U20 Athletics Championship

India’s Sunil Kumar fought back gallantly to clinch the gold medal in the gruelling decathlon at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Yecheon, South Korea, on Tuesday.

It was a hard-earned gold medal for the 19-year-old athlete from Bhiwani in Haryana. He was trailing at the fifth spot on day 1 of the decathlon, but with grit and hard work, bounced back to earn as many as 7,003 points in the two-day event. The teenager thus won his first international gold medal. India overall won five medals on Tuesday, including two silver and two bronze.

The combined two-day track and field competition had 100m sprint, long jump, shot put, high jump, and 400m on the first day. The 110m hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw, and 1500m race took place on the second day.

After being at the fifth place with 3,597 points in his kitty on day 1 of the competition, Kumar used every bit of energy to surge ahead of his rivals on his international debut. His previous best of 6,855 points was recently achieved in a junior domestic meet.

After winning gold, Sunil Kumar said that it was a challenging situation as he was lying fifth after day 1.

“It looked a bit difficult. But I gave it a try and pushed hard on the second day and I was successful,” Sunil Kumar said over the phone from Yecheon. “I am extremely happy with the result.”

Korea’s Yu-Seong Lee led the field on the first day of the combined track and field event, but eventually faded to fourth place. He scored 6,800 points.

Uzbekistan’s Nodir Norbaev chased the Indian athlete but settled for the silver medal with 6,956 points. Makhmudov Samandar, also from Uzbekistan, took home bronze with 6,840 points.

Other Indian winners at the Asian U20 Athletics Championship

In the women’s high jump event, India’s Pooja battled with Barnokhon Saifullaeva of Uzbekistan for a gold, but eventually settled for silver. She cleared 1.82m, while Saifullaeva won the gold with a height of 1.84m.

India’s second silver came in the women’s 3000m event through Bushra Khan. She clocked 9:41.47 seconds.

Indian sprinters were also successful in winning bronze medals in the men's and women’s 4x100m relay events.

In the men’s 4x100m relay, India initially finished fifth, but later China and Thailand were disqualified. The Indian team thus moved to the third place.

In the women’s 200m heats, both Nayana Kokare (24.68 secs) and Unnathi Aiyappa Bolland (24.90 secs), advanced to the final scheduled for Wednesday.