Asian Games 2023 athletics: India’s Kartik Kumar wins silver, Gulveer Singh claims bronze in 10000m

India’s long-distance runner Kartik Kumar won a silver medal in the men’s 10000m race while Gulveer Singh claimed bronze in the same event at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, the People’s Republic of China on Saturday.

The medals were the first for India in the 10000m at the Asian Games since Gulab Chand’s bronze at the 1998 edition in Bangkok.

Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew, the Asian Games champion and a Diamond League winner in the 5000m, beat the two Indians for gold in 28:13.62.

Kartik Kumar was second in 28:15.38 and was followed by Gulveer Singh, who clocked 28:17.21. Both Indian athletes won the medals with their personal bests but Surendra Singh holds the national record of 28:02.89 in the men’s 10000m set in 2008.

The two medals take India’s tally in athletics at the Asian Games 2023 to three. Kiran Baliyan won a bronze medal in the women’s shot put on Friday.

While Gulveer Singh, 26, won a 5000m bronze at the Asian Championships earlier this year, it was the first medal for the 24-year-old Kartik Kumar at any major event.

However, India missed out on medals in shorter races at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium.

Aishwarya Kailash Mishra clocked her season-best of 52.73s for second place in her 400m heat but finished fourth in the final with a timing of 53.50.

Muhammed Ajmal, a member of India’s Asian record relay team at the World Championships 2023, ended fifth in the men’s 400 final with a timing of 45.97.

Jyothi Yarraji, M Sreeshankar in finals

The women's 100m hurdles saw Asian champion Jyothi Yarraji qualify for the final in 13.03s for second place in her heat. Nithya Ramraj finished fifth in her heat with a timing of 13.30 but qualified for the final. The top three runners from each of the two heats and the next two fastest times qualified for the eight-woman 100m hurdles final on Sunday.

Long jumper Murali Sreeshankar jumped 7.97m to finish second in Group B and make the final. National record holder Jeswin Aldrin competed in Group A and is also through to the men's long jump final after ranking sixth overall with a best of 7.67m. The top 12 from the field of 20 qualified for Sunday’s final.

In the men's 1500m, defending champion Jinson Johnson ranked fifth in heat 2 with a timing of 3:56.22 to advance into the final. Reigning Asian champion Ajay Kumar Saroj came second in heat 1 with a timing of 3:51.93 and also qualified. The fastest six runners from each of the two heats made the cut for Sunday’s final.