India’s Animesh Kujur, Vithya Ramraj clinch bronze at Asian Athletics Championships

India’s Animesh Kujur and Vithya Ramraj fetched a bronze each in the men’s 200 m final and women’s 400 m hurdles, respectively, at the 26th Asian Athletics Championships here on Saturday. Kujur delivered a standout performance in the men’s 200 m final, setting a new national record of 20.32 seconds to claim bronze. The 21-year-old bettered his previous mark of 20.40s, which was set earlier this year at the National Federation Senior Athletics Competition. Japan’s Towa Uzawa won gold with a time of 20.12s, while Saudi Arabia’s Abdulaziz Abdu I Atafi took silver in 20.31s. In the women’s 400 m hurdles, Asian Games medallist Vithya secured India’s second bronze of the day. The 26-year-old Tamil Nadu athlete clocked 56.46s to finish on the podium. China’s Mo Jiadie clinched gold in 55.31s, narrowly edging Bahrain’s Oluwakemi Adekoya, who finished second in 55.32s. Anu Raghavan, the other Indian in the race, placed seventh with 57.46s. In the women’s 200m final, Jyoti Yarraji finished fifth with a time of 23.47s, while Nithya Gandhe came seventh in 23.90s. Yarraji had won gold in the women’s 100m hurdles earlier in the week.

India