Athletics highlights from Asian Games 2023: Yarraji takes silver medal amid disqualification controversy; Sable, Toor strike gold at Hangzhou 2022

The athletics events for October 1 are finally done. India finishes the day with nine medals - two gold, four silver, and three bronze.

For now, we cannot wait to shift our attention to the badminton courts. My colleague Mayank is blogging the proceedings live. Click here.

Wu has finally been disqualified by TR16.8. India has another silver! Nithya Ramraj finishes last in 13.40.

It’s a Chinese 1-2. Lin is the clear winner of the gold medal. But Wu’s silver and Yarraji’s bronze medal finish is pending confirmation.

Clearly, Yarraji started after Wu, and after much deliberation looks like they are going to allow both the athletes to compete. A decision will only be taken later.

Wu Yanni with a false start. But what has happened here? There seems to be some confusion regarding Yarraji’s take-off as well. She has taken up her protest against the officials.

The last of the Indians in action today at the Hangzhou OSC Stadium takes her mark.

Feng Bin leads a Chinese one-two with a Games Record - 67.93m. Compatriot Jiang Zhichao (61.04, PB) picks silver. Seema Punia’s 58.62 is good enough for a bronze medal finish.

Nandini Agasara with a personal best showing in 800m (2:15.33), moves to third place on the final heptathlon standings. Swapna Barman finishes third in 800m, overall fourth by four points. This is the country’s 50th medal in the ongoing edition of the Asian Games.

Sreeshankar’s last effort is worth 8m, and that means the Indian will return home with a silver medal. China’s Wang Jianan picks gold with an 8.22m jump.

Seema with a season best throw of 58.62. He is presently third on the standings.

For his last attempt, Jeswin’s left foot slips in the run-up. He stumbles and that would be it for the Indian. His last attempt amounts to only 6.55. Disappointing but remember he is just 21, which can only mean he has a long, long way to go.

Ajay Kumar Saroj (3:38.94) and Jinson Johnson (3:39.74) with a 2-3 finish in 1500m.

Seema Punia’s third throw is worth 57.47. She is currently fourth on the leaderboard.

Harmilan Bains with a fabulous show in 1500m.

Oh, the CWG horror! Murali Sreeshankar’s landing on the footboard is too close for comfort. That will take some looking into. After a good five minutes of deliberation, the jump is deemed legal. 8.19 it is. He is 3cm away from the leader Wang Jianan now.

Seema Punia hurls the best throw thus far - 53.95. It is just an insurance throw though and we hope to see higher figures soon.

And it is a 7.72m jump. That won’t affect his standing on the leaderboard.

The women’s discus throw final gets underway at 5:35pm IST.

His timing reads 21.03, and that will only be good enough to hand him the fifth place.

Tolo’s last attempt won’t be enough to overtake Tajinderpal’s mark. 19.83, it is...

Tajinder back to the gold medal position with a mammoth 20.36!

Amlan Borgohain is second best in the semifinal 1 field of 200m.

Jeswin does better off the third effort, but only by a centimetre. 7.76m.

The Saudi Arabia athlete keeps getting better, doesn’t he? 20.18! Sahib has bettered his mark again to register an 18.18m throw.

20.06... And Tolo’s fears have taken shape. Tajinder goes to the very top of the standings.

17-plus cm off the safe line on the board, Sreeshankar signals towards his dad that he is only taking it easy now. A 7.87, decent enough.

Tolo with a season best effort of 19.93m. He lets out a roar! However, the Saudi Arabian will be wary of Tajinder. The Indian is very capable of THAT one throw.

Tajinder finally gets on the leaderboard with a 19.51m attempt off the third throw. Sahib, meanwhile, betters his mark again. A 17.90m throw it is, this time.

Murali Sreeshankar’s first jump is a fouled attempt.

8:19.50 AND A GAMES RECORD! Sable is alone in the TV cam frame as he breaks into early celebrations. Although he seemed exhausted at the wee end of the race, the early lead helped him jog home comfortably. Iran’s Hossein Keyhani held the previous Games record - 8:22.79

Sahib betters his mark by a mere 0.01m.

Avinash Sable pulls away from the rest of the group. Well well well...

Signs of trouble here as Tajinder taps the toeboard, unable to steady himself after a throw.

Avinash Sable, with an NR of 8:11.20, starts off ahead of the pack. He will be mindful of getting stuck in a speed trap once again.

It is a 7.75m jump for Jeswin and phew... it is legal. He was 9.1cm off the safe limit on the takeoff board.

The Saudi Arabian athlete gets in with a huge throw. Mohamed Daouda A Tolo throws the metal ball 19.54m away.

Tajinderpal starts off with a huge hurl but unfortunately it is a ‘no throw’. No worries there as he will still have a few attempts. That he is throwing it this far can only be taken as a positive going forward.

Sahib starts off with a 17.78m throw. That is way below his PB of 19.23, but quite sure he is just getting a feel of things here.

Tajinderpal Singh Toor, Sahib Singh and the others make their way to the middle.

And that brings the curtains down for the morning session of athletics. The next set Indian athletes will be in action from 4:30pm IST where Tajinder Pal Singh Toor and Shahib SIngh will fight for the men’s shot put podium

Disappointment for the Indian athletes as they manage passable throws. 41.91m effort from Swapna while Nandini records a personal best 39.88m throw

Standings after javelin throw event:

Swapna has yet another middling outing as she registers a 45.13m throw. On the other hand, Nandini manages just a 36.10m throw

Standings after 2nd attempt:

Amlan Borgohain is all set to kickstart men’s 200m heats. He starts in lane 4 and finishes THIRD with 21.08s on the clock to qualify for the semifinal

Final standings:

Swapna starts off with a 43.78m throw. Meanwhile, Nandini falters, failure in her first try

Standings after 1st attempt:

Up next will be the javelin throw event in women’s heptathlon

Nandini finishes third while defending champion Swapna is seventh

Swapna registers a 5.71 jump in her final try and is currently placed seventh in the long jump standings. An underwhelming outing for the Indian

Swapna’s attempts: 5.63, 3.36, 5.71

The Indian registers an impressive season best 5.94m in her third attempt. She’s placed third behind China and Uzbekistan

Nandini’s attempts: 5.91, 5.77, 5.94

India’s Jyothi Yarraji is all set to start the proceedings in women’s 200m race. She finishes third with 23.78 on the clock. China’s Li Yuting attains first place, clocking 23.67 while Olga Safronova also qualifies for the final with 23.71 on the clock.

Qualification criteria: First two from each heat qualifies for the final directly while the next two fastest in all heats combined will also get a shot at the medal

Swapna gets ready for her second attempt. And she falters yet again and it looks like she’s injured herself on the process as her legs collide just before taking off. She’s only able to manage a 3.36m jump. Her injury isn’t anything serious though, by the looks of it as she’s able to walk normally

Meanwhile, China’s Zheng jumps registers her season best 6.07m to move to the top of standings

Nandini ends up with 5.77m on board. Her first try of 5.91 will still remain her best. She’s placed second currently with 4150 points overall

Swapna Barman up next. She’s looks visibly upset after her first try as she registers a 5.63m jump. She’s placed fifth currently

Meanwhile, both Japanese athletes- Odama and Yamasaki- register no jumps

Nandini registers a 5.91m jump in her first try. This is her season best. To the Indian’s advantage Thailand’s Sunisa also registers a no jump

Uzbekistan’s Ekaterina Veronina gets a 5.95m jump to overtake Nandini to the top of standing

The women’s heptathlon long jump event is underway with Japan’s Karin Odama of Japan making her first jump and she starts with a no jump

The first athletics event of the day is the women’s heptathlon long jump where two Indians- Swapna Barman and Nandini Agasara- will be seen in action.

Bib numbers:

Swapna: 273

Nandini: 267

Swapna Barman, Nandini Agasara - W Heptathlon Long Jump – 06:30 IST

Jyothi Yarraji – W 200m Round 1 – 07:10 IST

Swapna Barman, Nandini Agasara - W Heptathlon Javelin Throw – 07:35 IST

Amlan Borgohain – M 200m – Round 1 Heat 4 – 08:06 IST

Tajinderpal Singh Toor, Sahib Singh – M Shot Put Final – 16:30 IST

Sreeshanker/Jeswin – M Long Jump Final – 16:40 IST

Avinash Sable – M 3000m Steeple Chase – 16:45 IST

Amlan Borgohain – M 200m –Semifinal (if qualified)– 17:25 IST

Seema Punia – W Discuss Throw Final – 17:35 IST

KM Deeksha, Harmilan Bains – W 1500m Final – 17:50 IST

Jinson/ Ajay Kumar – M 1500 Final – 18:00 IST

Swapna Barman, Nandini Agasara - W Heptathlon 800m – 18:15 IST

Jyothi Yarraji – W 100m Hurdles – 18:45 IST

Click the link below to know how yesterday’s athletics events unfolded:

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Athletics at Asian Games 2023, September 30 Highlights: India picks silver and bronze medal in men’s 10000m

Asian Games 2023: Catch the live score and updates of all the Indians in action in Athletics on September 30 at the Hanzghou Games.

The 19th edition of the Asian Games will be telecast live across the Sony Sports Network and can also be live streamed on the Sony LIV app/website