Sreekiran Nandakumar won the 800m race to book a quota place while Anu Kumar finished second as India dominated the half-mile event. Kumar missed out as Youth Olympics quota is only being awarded to one winner per country.
Nandakumar clocked a time of 1:50.93 seconds while Kumar completed the race in 1:51.13 seconds.
The result would be particularly satisfying for Tamil Nadu’s Nandakumar who had been forced to drop out of the final of Junior Asian Championships last month after suffering from a severe migraine just before his contest. As a result, it was Kumar who had won that race in Gifu, Japan.
The day started in a positive note for the Indian contingent as Suraj Soren claimed a silver medal in the 10000m race walk – an event where three quota spots were on offer.
Soren clinched his medal with a time 47:40.61 seconds. He finished just a fraction of a second behind China’s Xin Wang who clocked 47:40.11 seconds. Japan’s Yusuke Iwakawa claimed the bronze with a time of 47:45.30 seconds.
Also earning a quota place for the Youth Olympics was 3000m runner Seema. Needing to finish on the podium to claim a quota spot, the athlete from Himachal Pradesh clocked 9:55.87 seconds to claim the silver medal behind Japan’s MiyakiSugata who recorded a time of 9:40.82 seconds. Another Japanese Hidori Kidokoro clinched the bronze with a time of 9:57.54 seconds.
Another Indian to earn a quota spot on the day was hurdler Vishnu Priya Jayaprakasan. With only the top two finishers earning a quota spot to Buenos Aires, the Kerala sprinter edged out China’s Changwei Lu to claim the silver medal. Jayaprakasan clocked a time of 1:00.95 seconds.
The race was won by Chinese Taipei’s JuiHsuan Yang who clocked 59.78 seconds.
Delhi sprinter Nisar Ahmed also booked a berth for Youth Olympics despite finishing fifth in overall ranking with a time of 22.16 seconds in 200m finals.
Javelin thrower Kunwer Ajairaj Singh Rana and middle distance runner Tai Bamhane had secured Youth Olympics quota places yesterday
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