The 14th edition of the meet got off to a flying start at the Sugathadasa Stadium as Gu Yuan broke a continental record in the hammer throw and Li Yanfeng followed it up with the discus gold.
Later in the day, veteran Ahmed Ibrahim Warsami led a Qatari charge on the men’s 10,000 metres as his country ensured both gold and silver in the biennial event.
An Asian record in the first event of the meet was welcome news especially because not a single continental mark had fallen in the last meet in Jakarta two years ago.
Gu hurled the hammer to 71.10 metres, shattering the previous record of 68.06 metres set by her compatriot Liu Yinghui in a national meet at Shanghai earlier this year.
Gu hit a fluent patch straight away, a 65.41 to show for her first attempt.
“I was sure I would win the gold,” said Gu, who hails from the northeastern Chinese city of Liaoning. “I was also confident of erasing the Asian record,” the 20-year-old said through an interpretor.
The previous championship mark of 61.86, also in Gu’s name, was improved by almost 10 metres. In fact, all her six throws crossed the mark she set in Fukuoka, Japan, four years ago.
Gu finished more than 12 metres ahead of the field, crossing the 70-metre mark with a 70.92 on her third attempt before coming up with her best for the day.
“I have been touching 70 metres regularly in practice, so I was confident I would set the record here or at the Asian Games in Busan (South Korea) next month,” said the Chinese National champion.
Hilang Chih Feng of Chinese Taipei (58.19) won the silver while India’s Hardeep Kaur took the bronze at 57.82.
In discus, Chinese athlete Li Yangfeng struggled with her rhythm as three of her six attempts were declared no-throws because she stepped out of the circle.
Nevertheless, she was around the 60-metre mark on her remaining three throws, a 60.06 metres on the fifth being her best in an international meet.
“I hope to do better in the season ahead, especially if picked for the Asian Games,” said 23-year-old Li, a bronze medallist in Jakarta.
India got silver and bronze in the event through Harwant Kaur (57.60) and Swaranjit Kaur (55.05).
Meanwhile, Qatari athletes made their presence felt by winning the gold and silver in the men’s 10,000 metres.
Warsama expectedly clinched the gold but was given a tough fight by his compatriot Awad Amon Majid. Warsama won the slow but interesting race as he came up with a fine burst 150 metres from the finish line.
Warsama, champion in the 5,000m last time, clocked 30:33.5, much outside the meet record of 28:53.2.
Majid’s silver came at 30:33.5 while India once again settled for the lower slots, claiming a bronze through Jagannath Lakade (30:51.2)
PHILIPPINES TO HOST NEXT CHAMPIONSHIP
The Asian Athletic Championships will revert to being held in odd years, a top official announced here Friday.
“The change has been made as some countries were refraining from sending their top athletes in the year of the Olympics or the Asian Games,” said Asian Amateur Athletic Association (AAAA) president Suresh Kalmadi.
The bienniel championships have been suffering since the decision in 1995 to shift them to even years as athletes training with the idea of peaking during the Asiad or the Olympics often skipped this meet.
The trend was more conspicuous this year, the event being held just about seven weeks prior to the Asian Games and within a week of the conclusion of the Commonwealth Games at Manchester in England.
The Asian Games are scheduled to be held in Busan, South Korea, from September 29 to October 14.
More than 800 athletes from 38 countries are participating in the 14th edition of the Asian meet here, but several top names are missing.
Even the Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI), which Kalmadi heads, has not entered most of its top-rung athletes.
Kalmadi also announced Manila would host the next Asian championships in 2003 and that the AAAA would henceforth be called the Asian Athletic Association (AAA).—AFP