Odisha athletes Dutee, Srabani enter finals in Asian Athletics Championships

Bhubaneswar: Ace sprinters Dutee Chand and Srabani Nanda from Odisha are in a step behind to bring medals for the country in 22nd Asian Athletics Championships held in Bhubaneswar.

The two sprinters entered finals of women’s 200 mt event on the last day of athletic event on Sunday.

While Srabani topped in heat-1 at 200 mt run with a timing of 24.01 seconds, Dutee finished second in heat-3 at the event with timing of 23.84 seconds.

Meanwhile, Odia athlete Amiya Mallick also managed to enter finals by finishing fifth in men’s 200mt run in heat -2 at Asian Athletics Championships in Kalinga Stadium.

Earlier, Mallick was disqualified from the men’s 100m while he was part of the Indian sprint relay team, that was also disqualified, ending his chances of a medal in his stronger events.

Iran’s Hassan Taftian, who shocked favourite Femi Seun Ogunode in the men’s 100m final, failed to qualify in the 200m final.

The Kalinga Stadium crowd got behind the Indian men’s 4x400m relay team as they qualified for the final of the event that will be staged in the evening session, keeping themselves in contention for yet another medal.

In the women’s heptathlon, with 5,066 points, Swapna Barman maintained her slim but firm lead over the rest of the field by producing strong performances in the long jump and javelin throw.

Meg Hemphill of Japan (5,005 points), however, leapfrogged Purnima Hembram (4,922 points) into the second place with just one event to go — the 800m race — which will decide the medals in the evening session.

A string of medal events will bring curtains to the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships in the evening session, with javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, sprinters Dutee Chand and Srabani Nanda, and middle distance runner Tintu Luka all vying for medals in their respective events.

(With IANS input)