Double gold for India
Monday, 22 November 2010
GUANGZHOU, Nov 21 (AFP): India enjoyed a remarkable double gold on the opening day of athletics at the Asian Games Sunday as Bahrain drew first blood in their battle with Qatar for men's middle and long-distance supremacy.
Preeja Sreedharan led an Indian one-two in the women's 10,000m while team-mate Sudha Singh claimed a last-gasp victory in the women's 3000m steeplechase.
Sreedharan produced an astonishing burst of speed down the back straight to clock 31min 50.28sec for gold.
The 28-year-old took teammate Kavita Raut with her as they both outsprinted Bahrain's Ethiopian-born Shitaya Habtegebrel in the home stretch.
Singh made it double Indian gold by just holding on from China's Jin Yuan, whose last-gasp effort was not quite enough to claim first place in front of more than 50,000 raucous spectators at the Aota Main Stadium in Guangzhou.
Singh, who set an Indian national record when finishing fifth at the Commonwealth Games, finished in 9min 55.67sec, with Jin taking silver at just four-hundredths of a second behind.
Preeja Sreedharan led an Indian one-two in the women's 10,000m while team-mate Sudha Singh claimed a last-gasp victory in the women's 3000m steeplechase.
Sreedharan produced an astonishing burst of speed down the back straight to clock 31min 50.28sec for gold.
The 28-year-old took teammate Kavita Raut with her as they both outsprinted Bahrain's Ethiopian-born Shitaya Habtegebrel in the home stretch.
Singh made it double Indian gold by just holding on from China's Jin Yuan, whose last-gasp effort was not quite enough to claim first place in front of more than 50,000 raucous spectators at the Aota Main Stadium in Guangzhou.
Singh, who set an Indian national record when finishing fifth at the Commonwealth Games, finished in 9min 55.67sec, with Jin taking silver at just four-hundredths of a second behind.