Asian Games 2018: Indian Athletes To Look Out For This Evening

Palembang: All eyes are on Neeraj Chopra, Dutee Chand and Hima Das as the athletic events at the Asian Games begin this evening. The trio are expected to bring laurels for India in the mega sports event. After the stupendous performances of young athletes like Mohammed Anas, Seema Punia and Jinson Johnson, India is hoping to better its medal tally of the last edition. Of India’s 57 medals at the last edition, athletics had delivered 13, including two gold.

India is yet to win a gold in javelin throw at the Asian Games and Neeraj Chopra is being expected to win one. However, he will face stiff competition from Chinese Taipei’s Cheng Chao Tsun, who has a personal best throw of 91.36, achieved last year. Tsun, though, has managed only 84.60m as this season so far because of an elbow injury.

Similarly, Hima Das had a sensational rise after starting her career in 2016. Her timing of 51.32 seconds at the Commonwealth Games placed her sixth in a world-class field but her run of 51.46 seconds at Tampere made her the first Indian woman to win a gold at an IAAF World Junior Championships. With her 51.13 seconds personal best, it is being expected that Hima will give a tough fight to Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser. She will be accompanied by compatriot Nirmala Sheoran (personal best 51.25) in the field on Saturday in the qualification round.

Another player who has hopes running high is Dutee Chand. The 22-year-old athlete from Odisha bettered her own 100m national record at the Inter-State National Championships in June by clocking 11.29 seconds in semifinals. She went on to win gold with a timing of 11.32 seconds. However, these timings are behind China’s Wei Yongli (10.99), Bahrain’s Hajar Saad Al Ameeri (11.17) and Viktoria Zyabkina (11.20), who will all compete alongside her in the qualification round for both women’s 100m and women’s 400m on Saturday evening.

Also Read: Asian Games 2018: India Add 6 More Medals