Asian U20 Athletics: Laxita wins silver, Shreeya bronze as India’s tally swells to 15 in Dubai

Promising middle distance runner Laxita Vinod Sandilea and low hurdler Shreeya Rajesh won silver and bronze medals, respectively, on the penultimate day of the 21st Asian U20 Athletics Championships being held in Dubai.

According to information reaching here, Laxita claimed her medal in women’s 800m while Shreeya finished on the podium in women’s 400m hurdles as India’s overall tally swelled to 15 medals — five gold, six silver and five bronze medals.

After a not-so-encouraging morning session, the Indian athletes raised the bar in the evening to make it a productive day for the country. The competition is in progress and more medals are expected at the end of the session. Shreeya Rajesh ran a well-judged pace to sail over the hurdles but eventually settled for a bronze in the women’s 400m hurdles with a time of 59.20 seconds. Jeyavindhiya Jegadish finished sixth in the 400m hurdles. Her time was 1:02.06 seconds., the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) informed on Friday.

Talented middle-distance runner Laxita Vinod Sandilea lived up to her reputation but had to be satisfied with a silver in the women’s 800m, finishing second in 2:07.10 seconds. Fellow Indian Tanvi Malik, however, finished sixth in 800m in 2:13.42. The morning session didn’t go on expected lines for the Indian contingent as Sachin finished fourth in the men’s 10,000m race walk in 45:50.56. Himanshu, the second Indian racewalker, was disqualified.

The Indian duo of Nadini and Anushka finished fifth (56.99m) and sixth (55.81m) respectively, in the women’s hammer throw. However, in the women’s 100m hurdles heats both Sabita Toppo (14.10 seconds) and Unnathi Aiyappa Bolland (13.72 seconds) advanced to the medal round.

The men’s 4x100m relay team also advanced to the medal round. The Indian team finished second in their heat with a time of 40.43 seconds.