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Narrowly missing a medal

(See also The Olympics: IndiaI

HEART BREAKS

The Times of India Sep 24 2014

Saurav Ghosal narrowly missed out on winning the gold medal in squash for India (Asiad 2014). TOI takes a look at other occasions where Indian athletes faltered on the doorstep of glory

WOMEN'S 800M, 1986 SEOUL ASIAD

SHINY ABRAHAM'S lane change

Shiny Abraham had just completed her 800m race, way ahead of her competitors. But she was aghast when the race officials announced that she had disqualified. Her fault: She had changed her lane a bit too early in the race. Shiny's mistake had cost India a gold.

She, however, managed to win a silver in another event 400m behind PT Usha. In all, India finished with nine medals in athletics events in Seoul including four gold.

WOMEN'S ARCHERY GUANGZHOU 2010

INDIVIDUAL BRONZE MEDAL PLAYOFF,

DEEPIKA KUMARI'S 2-6 loss against Kwon-un Sil of Korea India have won very few medals in archery and none in the women's individual category so far. Deepika Kumari came tantalisingly close to bag one when she made it to the play-off in the individual event in Guangzhou. She cruised through the first few rounds before losing to eventual winner Yun Ok-hee of Korea. She missed a medal narrowly as she lost to Kwon-un Sil in the bronze medal playoff. There was some consolation for her though, as she teamed up with Dola Banerjee and Rimil Buriuly to claim the bronze in the women's team event.

WOMEN'S TENNIS, 2006 DOHA ASIAD

SINGLES FINAL

SANIA MIRZA 4-6, 6-1, 1-6 loss against Zheng Jie of China She was in top form, having won her group stage matches and the quarterfinal in straight sets. In the semifinal, she beat the then Asian No.1 and top seed Li Na 6-2, 6-2 to book a final berth against Zheng Jie, also of China. Sania started tentatively to lose the first set, but bounced back to draw parity with a 6-1 win in the second. But the scorching heat took its toll as the Indian struggled in the third to lose the match and a chance to win a historic gold for the country. She had her moments to rejoice, however, when hours later she returned to the court with Leander Paes to win the mixed doubles gold medal.

MEN'S 10M AIR PISTOL, INCHEON 2014

TEAM EVENT

INDIA LOSE silver to China by a whisker India and China were level on points after the final in the men's 10m Air Pistol event. Rai (585 points), Samaresh Jung (580) and Prakash Nanjappa (578) took India's score to 1743 points, the same as China. The silver was decided by the number of Xs (bullseye) in which China tallied one more 65 to India's 64.

MEN'S HOCKEY FINAL, 2002 BUSAN GAMES

INDIA'S 3-4 loss against Korea India had it easy in the group stage, winning their first two matches comfortably. The semi-final against Pakistan was a close one, but India held their nerve to advance. However, in the final, nothing seemed to go right for India in they conceded three goals. But things started to change as they pumped in three goals in five minutes. Even though the scores were level at that time, India clearly had the upper hand. But just as they were getting closer to a historic win, Korea scored in the 68th minute to pour water on Indian hopes.

National marks

100m

100m: men

The Times of India, April 29, 2016

10.26 sec : AmiyaMallick. It was heartbreak for Mallick. An extraordinary day for the athlete from Odisha was spoiled due to apulled muscle during the semifinals. Such was his form that he set a new meet record in the heats with 10.35 in the morning before improving the timings to 10.26 sec to set a national record in the semifinals despite pulling a muscle during the race.The injury affected his performance in the final as he finished fourth at 10.51.The earlier record was jointly held by AN Quereshi and Anil Kumar at 10.30.The qualification mark for Rio Games for men 10.16 secs.

100m: women

11.33 Sec: Odisha sprinter Dutee Chand set a new national record in in the Federation Cup athletics in 2016. Dutee, who has had her share of upheavals in the past, having to fight her way back to the track after winning a court case against the international body (IAAF) following her ouster from the sport due to a hyperandrogenism charge, missed out an Olympic berth by a 100th of a second. The 11.33 seconds that she returned was enough to eclipse the existing record of 11.38 secs set by Rachita Mistry 16 years back [in 2000?] The qualification mark for Rio Games for women is 11.32 secs

200m

Men

National record: 20.45 seconds: Dharambir Singh (at the fourth Indian GP, Bengaluru, 2016). The previous national record was also by Dharambir Singh: 20.66s (Asian meet in Wuhan, China, 2015). Dharambir has served a two-year ban for doping in 2012.

4x400m relay

Men

3 minutes, 00.91 seconds (2016)

3:02.17 also (2016)

Jul 11 2016 : The Times of India (Delhi) Biju BabuCyriac Bengaluru:

None of the Indian athletes managed to meet the Olympic qualification marks in individual events on Sunday but the men's and women's 4x400m relay squads came up with two stunning performances as they almost booked their berths for the Rio Games in the 3rd Indian Grand Prix here.

Anchored by Arokia Rajiv, the men's quartet, trained by Ukrainian coach Yuri Ogorodnik and also comprising Kunhu Mohammed, Mohammed Anas and A Dharun clocked 3 minutes, 00.91 seconds that shaved off almost two seconds from the the national record time of 3:02.17 set by the same squad in Turkey last month. The new time, clocked with Maldives as the second international team, helped India jump from 18th to 13th spot in the world ranking list. The top-16 nations will make the cut based on the July 12 ranking list.

Rajiv, the 400m bronze winner at the Incheon Asian Games.

The quartet, bettered the 18-year-old [1998?] mark in Turkey .

Women

3:27.88s 2016)

2016: The women's 4x400m relay squad, who are already in the mix for a Rio berth, enhanced their chances with a winning time of 3:27.88s. The team comprising Nirmala, Tintu Luka, MR Poovamma and Anilda Thomas reclaimed the 12th spot in the ranking list after dropping down to 14th on Sunday morning.

800m

Men

National record: Sriram Singh: 1:45.77s, July 25, 1976

Jinson Johnson 1:45.98s (at the fourth Indian GP, Bengaluru, 2016). His previous personal best was 1:46.43s at Hyderabad, 2016.

High jump

Men

2.26m: set by Tejaswin Shankar of Delhi, age 17, at the National Junior Athletics meet, Coimbatore, 2016.

2.25m: set by Harishankar Roy of West Bengal at Asian All-Stars meet in Singapore in 2004.

Junior men

2.26m: set by Tejaswin Shankar of Delhi, age 17, at the National Junior Athletics meet, Coimbatore, 2016.

2.17m: set by S Harshith of Karnataka in 2011.

Long jump

Women

National record: 6.83m, Anju Bobby George.

Second best: 6.66m, Neena V (at the fourth Indian GP, Bengaluru, 2016).

Marathon

Thonakal first Indian man to win Asian Marathon

Runner Gopi makes history, November 27, 2017: The Times of India

Becomes 1st Indian Man To Win Asian Marathon Title

Gopi Thonakal became the first Indian man to win Asian Marathon Championship after he achieved the feat in the 16th edition of the prestigious event here in China Thonakal clocked 2 hours, 15 minutes and 48 seconds to clinch the gold. Andrey Petrov of Uzbekistan bagged the silver with a timing of 2:15:51s, while Byambalev Tseveenravdan of Mongolia won bronze by clocking 2:16:14s.

The 29-year-old from Kerala had won the New Delhi Marathon in 2.15.37 earlier this year. He was 28th in the London World Championships in August with a timing of 2:17:13. In the Rio Olympics last year, he had clockedhis personal bestof 2.15.25 while finishing 25th.

“I am proud to have won a gold for my country. I am also proud to become the first Indian man to have won a gold in this championship,” Thonakal said after the race.

Thonakal is the third Indian overall to have won a gold in the event. Asha Agarwal won the women’s title in 1985 when the event was a part of the biennial Asian Track and Field Championships. Sunita Godara won the women’s title in 1992 after the event was moved out as a separate one away from the Asian Athletics Championships in 1988.

Steeplechase

Women

Lalitan Babar clocked 9:27.09 at Delhi in the Federation Cup in April 2016, which was the then national mark.

Sudha Singh (9:26.55) set a new national mark in Shanghai in May 2016.

Lalita Babar (9 minutes, 19.76 seconds) clipped nearly seven seconds off Sudha’s record to create a new national record at the Rio Olympics in Aug 2016.

Triple jump

Men

National record: 17.30m: Renjith Maheswary (at the fourth Indian GP, Bengaluru, 2016). It was Renjith's third time above the 17m mark and the first after his bronze medal winning leap of 17.07m at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

Previous national record Arpinder Singh: 17.17m in 2014.

Year-wise performance

2016

Asian Indoor Athletics Championships

The Times of India, Feb 21 2016  Long jumper Mayook ha Johny fetched India a gold medal while sprinter Dutee Chand settled for a bronze af ter shattering national re cord in 60m dash in the Asian Indoor Athletics Champions hips. Mayookha controlled the long jump competition from the very outset and finished on top of the podium with a le ap of 6.35m, an effort that pro pelled her to India's first Asi an indoor title in the event Bui Thi Thu Thao of Vietnam took the silver with a 6.30m jump while Olga Rypakova o Kazakhstan finished third with an effort of 6.22m.

“Winning in Doha made me really happy , especially since I'm not used to competing indoors.

However, I expected something better than 6.35m. But I'm not complaining at all. The Asian title is quite an achievement,“ said Mayookha after winning the gold.

Another Indian, M A Prajusha finished fifth with a jump of 6.15m.

Dutee, meanwhile, won a bronze in women's 60m dash with a time of 7.37 secs in the final.

Earlier, she had set a na tional record while winning her heats in 7.28 secs. Viktoriya Zyabkina of Kazakhstan overcame a sluggish start to win the final race in a Championship record of 7.27 secs, well clear of China's Yuan Qi qi (7.33 secs). Sugandha Kumari brought the third medal for India as she won a bronze in women's 1500m with a time of 4:29.06.

In women's shot put, Manpreet Kaur (Jr) finished sixth with her best throw of 15.21m.

In men's high jump, Tejaswin Shankar failed to clear the opening height.

In women's pentathlon, Swapna Burman was at second spot after three events with 3285 points. She finished second in the first event of 60m hurdles, clocking 8.85 secs. She then finished third in shot put with a best throw of 11.38m before clearing 5.74m in long jump.

7 gold medals ensure Indian athletes a third place finish at 17th Asian Junior Championships Representational Image (Getty Images) Mon, 6 Jun 2016-11:59pm , PTI The Indian contingent returns home with a haul of 17 medals in total.

Indian athletes ended their campaign in the 17th Asian Junior Championships at a creditable third position with a rich haul of 17 medals, including seven gold, at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Monday.

The Indians bagged 7 gold, 4 silver and 6 bronze to finish behind Japan (14 gold) and China (11 gold).

India had finished fifth in the previous edition held in Chinese Taipei in 2014 with 12 medals (2 gold, 6 silver and 4 bronze). The Indians seemed to save their best for the last day as they bagged 3 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze.

3rd at Asian Junior Championships

The Times of India, June 8, 2016

Lily Das and Jisna Matthew grabbed their second gold medals of the Championships. 17-year-old Lily Das from West Bengal clocked 2:06.64sec to win the women's 800m, to add to her gold in her favourite event of 1500m.

The icing on the cake came from the women's 4x400m relay quartet who struck the last gold for India with P T Usha's protege Jisna Mathew anchoring the team to the top spot. The Indians were lagging behind with some distance to go in the race before The women's relay quarter of Jisna, Shaharbana Shidiqui Thadian Parambil, V Subha and George Linet clocked 3:43.57sec to take the top honours.

Rio aspirant Neeraj Chopra won the silver in men's javelin with a best throw of 77.60 metres, behind Japan's Sado Juniya (77.97m).

The Indian men's 4x400m relay team, comprising Kiran Murugan, Pankaj Malik, Harsh Kumar and Amoj Jacob finished with a silver, clocking 3:12.12sec, behind Thailand's 3:11.59.

In the men's 10,000m race, Abhishek Pal bagged the silver with a timing of 31:24.06sec while compatriot Kishen Narsi Tadvi took the bronze by clocking 32:07.12sec. Sonu Kumar added a bronze medal in men's triple jump with a performance of 15.99 metres.

2016: Taiwan Open Athletics Championships

The Times of India, May 21, 2016

Dutee bags second gold, but is still searching for Rio berth

Dutee Chand bagged her second gold by winning the women's 200m race in a clean sweep of medals by the Indians in the Taiwan Open Athletics Championships here on Friday. Dutee clocked 23.52secs in the 200m sprint final to win the gold while compatriots Srabani Nanda and HM Jyothi picked up the silver and bronze in 23.55secs and 23.92secs respectively. The trio were part of the Indian quartet that set a national record in women's 4x100m relay at the IAAF World Challenge in Beijing on May 18 2016.

2018

South Asian Junior Athletics

Day One

India wins 11 gold on opening day, May 6, 2018: The Times of India

Indians dominated the proceedings on day one of the South Asian Junior Athletics Championships, winning 11 gold, 10 silver and three bronze to occupy top spot in the medal tally here on Saturday. Arshdeep Singh provided India the first gold medal of the day in the junior men’s javelin throw event with an effort of 71.47m, a new meet record.

A new meet record was also registered in the junior women’s shot put event by India’s Kiran Baliyan who won the gold with a 14.77m throw. Later in the day, Indian juniors also created new meet records in the men’s long jump, women’s 100m hurdles and 1500m events. Lokesh Sathyanathan

(7.74m) won the gold for India in the long jump final while in 100m hurdles Sapna Kumari bagged the gold with a timing of 14.19s.

Overall: Ind 1st, SL 2, Pak 3, BD 4, Maldives 5

Manoj SS, May 6, 2018: The Times of India

HIGHLIGHTS

Indian junior athletes bagged 20 gold, 22 silver and eight bronze medals

They also created new meet records in the men's long jump, triple jump, women's triple jump, 100m hurdles

Hosts Sri Lanka (12-10-19) and Pakistan (0-1-1) took second and third positions

Indian junior athletes clinched overall title in the 3rd South Asian Junior Athletics Championships (SAJAC) which concluded at Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday. At the end of two-day meet, they bagged 20 gold, 22 silver and eight bronze medals to put India on top of the medals table. Hosts Sri Lanka (12-10-19) and Pakistan (0-1-1) took second and third positions.

Bangladesh (two bronze medals), Maldives (one bronze medal), Nepal, Bhutan were the other competing countries.

Indians also created new meet records in the men's long jump, triple jump, women's triple jump, 100m hurdles, javelin throw and 1500m events.

Kamalraj Kanagraj set new meet record in boys triple jump with a leap of 16.05m. The old record was 15.96m while Ashutosh Chouhan (15.37m) made it 1-2 for India. In girls event, Priyadarshini Suresh set a new meet record in triple jump with a distance of 12.90m while in javelin throw Sanjana Choudhary (48.08) also set a meet record.

Ajay Kumar Bind (boy's 5000m gold, 15:08.40s); Poonam Dinkar Sonune (girls 3000m gold, 9:50.21) were some of the other gold medal winners.

Arshdeep Singh provided India the first gold medal on the first day in the junior boy's javelin throw event with an effort of 71.47m, a new meet record. Sri Lankan duo of Prasanna Ranawaka (61.71m) and Anjana Fonseka (60.47m) won silver and bronze respectively.

A new meet record was also registered in the junior women's shot put event by India's Kiran Baliyan who won the gold with a 14.77m throw. India also grabbed the silver medal in this event through Anamika Das's 14.54m effort while Sri Lanka's Sarisha Gunasekara (11.51m) won the bronze.

Kerala athletes Mohammed Fias and Abigail Arokianathan brought home silver medals in boys 110m hurdles and girls 400m hurdles, respectively.

Lokesh Sathyanathan (7.74m) won the gold for India in the long jump final while in 100m hurdles Sapna Kumari bagged the gold with a timing of 14.19s. Durga Deore clocked 4:31.38 in 1500m to add one more gold to India's tally.

In the 4x100m relay races, Indian junior men won gold while the women's team settlesd for silver medal.

Other important Indian medallists:

Junior girls: Nanhi (400mH, 1:02.06s)Punitha Ramasamy (gold, long jump, 5.95m), Ajay (gold, discus throw, 50.11m), Ashish Bhalothia (bronze, discus throw, 46.52m), Pragyan Sahu (silver, 100m hurdles, 14.98s), Chaitrali Gujar (silver, 100m, 12.24s), Subha Venkatesan (silver, 400m, 55.18s), Rachna Gujar (bronze, 400m, 55.70s), Poonam Sonune (silver, 1500m, 4:36.65), Abigail Arokianathan (silver, 400m hurdles 1:02.45s), Abhinaya sudhakara Shetty (bronze, high jump, 1.69m), silver in 4x400m

Junior boys: Ashish Bhalothia (gold shot put, 18.53m, NMR, OMR, 17.89m Shakti Solanki), Sahib Singh (silver. shot but. 17.75m) Gurjeet Singh (silver, high jump, 2.00m), Rishabh Rishiwar (silver, long jump, 7.43m), Kunal Choudhary (gold, 110m hurdles, 14.50s), Mohammed Fias (silver, 110m hurdles, 14.55s), Prajwal Ravi (gold, 100m, 10.81s), Akash Kumar (bronze, 100m, 10.89s), Ankit (gold, 1500m, 3:51.52), Ajit Kumar (3:53.45, Aman (silver, 400mH, 52.56s BMR, OMR 52.91s Jithin Paul in 2007), Dhval Mahesh U (53.35s), silver in 4x400m, Nithin S Balakumar (silver, 200m, 21.63s), Alkash kumar (bornze 200m, 21.86m).