Star shot putter Inderjeet Singh and half-miler Jinson Johnson bagged a gold each as Indians won eight medals at the first leg of the Asian Athletics Grand Prix Series on Monday.
Inderjeet heaved the iron ball to a distance of 19.83m to easily win the gold in men’s shot put at the National Stadium here.
Though Inderjeet could not touch the 20m-mark, his effort was enough to place him on top spot in a mediocre field as India made a rich harvest of two gold, one silver and five bronze medals in the first of the three legs of the Asian Grand Prix Series.
This was Inderjeet’s second gold in an international event this month, having won the shot put event at the Asian Championships in Wuhan, China on June 3.
Johnson was the other Indian gold medal winner as he clocked 1:48.52 to finish first in men’s 800m final race. His woman counterpart M Gomathi clinched a bronze with a timing of 2:07.48.
Ankit Sharma won a silver in men’s long jump with an effort of 7.78m, while Rajiv Arokya and M R Poovamma bagged a bronze each in men’s and women’s 400m races with timings of 46.86 secs and 53.51 secs, respectively.
Srabani Nanda and Gayathry Govindraj then won a bronze each in women’s 100m dash and 100m hurdles in 11.58 secs and 13.72 secs, respectively.
In other events, N V Sheena finished seventh in women’s triple jump with an effort of 12.22m, while 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships bronze medallist in discus throw, Navjeet Kaur Dhillon produced a best of 52.04m to finish fifth.
In men’s javelin throw, Davinder Singh finished sixth with an effort of 69.58m while compatriot Rajinder Singh hurt himself during his third throw after managing 70.58m in his second attempt. The Indian team management had to rush him to the hospital for treatment.
In 4x100m relays, both the men and women’s teams could not finish the race due to overshooting the baton exchange.
The second and third legs of the series will be held on June 25 and June 29 at Pathumthani and Chanthaburi (both in Thailand).
The gold medallist of an individual event will get USD 1500 while the silver and bronze winners will pocket USD 800 and USD 500, respectively.
According to the organisers, all accepted/nominated athletes are required to participate in all three legs to be eligible for the prize money. There will be no prize money for the relay events.