National record holder K. T. Irfan clocked an impressive timing to win a bronze in the 20km men’s event in the Asian Race Walk Championship in Nomi on Sunday.
Irfan finished the race in 1 hour 20 minutes and 59 seconds, a tad slower than his national record timing of 1:20.21 which he set while finishing 10th in the 2012 London Olympics.
Korea’s Kim Hyun-Sub took the gold in 1:19:50 while Georgiy Sheiko of Kazakhstan bagged the silver in 1:20:47.
"Feeling very good. I had one thing in mind, to try my best. Winning a bronze is really great," said Irfan, in a release issued by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
After having clocked 1:22:43 in the national championship recently, Irfan had set a target of 1:20 for the Asian meet and was pleased to meet the goal.
"Hopefully, I will be back in Japan for the Olympics in 2020 and do well," said the 27-year-old Irfan who has kept a target of 1:19 for the World Championship in August.
In the women’s 20km event, India’s Priyanka failed to climb the podium as she finished fourth with a time of 1:37:42.
China’s Wang Na comfortably won the gold medal with an effort of 1:30:51. Host country walker Kumiko Okada finished second in 1:33:31 while Yeongeun Jeon of Korea took the third place in 1:34:35.
The results:
20 km race walk:
Men: 1. Kim Hyunsub (Kor) 1:19:50; 2. Georgiy Sheiko (Kaz) 1:20:47; 3. KT Irfan 1:20:59.
Open: 1. Devender Singh 1:21:38; 2. Kim Daeho (Kor) 1:23:49; 3. Ganapathi Krishnan 1:02:23; 4. Sunil 1:24:53; 6. Eknath Sambhaji Turambekar 2:26:09; 7. Jai Bhagwan 1:26:11.
Women: 1. Wang Na (Chn) 1:30:51; 2. Kumiko Okada (Jpn) 1:33:21; 3. Jeon Yeongeun (Kor) 1:34:35; 4. Priyanka 1:37:42.
Open: 1. Yang Peili (Chn) 1:34:18; 2. Regina Rykova (Kaz) 1:35:45; 3. Lee Daseul (Kor) 1:38:34; 5. Shanti Kumari 1:42:10; 6. Rani Yadav 1:42:59.
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