Asian Junior Championships Day Three Highlights

Day Three of the 18th Asian Junior Athletics Championships saw yet another pair of championships records, one by the home team and another by visitors.

Yuiri Yoshida delivered the goods in the girls’ 100 m hurdles, tying the old record with a mark of 13.45 (+0.9 m/s) for gold. Ayaka Kawata and Ayano Shiomi took gold and silver in the girls’ 800 m, traditionally an area of weakness for Japan, with Ayaka Kora adding to Japan’s gold medal haul with a PB jump of 6.44 m (+0.8 m/s).

Yuka Nosue was a distant bronze in the girls’ 3000 m steeplechase, 17 seconds behind gold medalist Maristela Parami Wasanthi of Sri Lanka who set a PB of 10:21.54 to win. Japan’s girls’ 4x100 m picked up silver well back from winner China’s 45.06 gold medal run.

Jumps and throws are for the most part another area of Japanese weakness, especially on the girls’ side, and in both the pole vault and discus throw they came up empty-handed. China earned gold in both, Zuo Cheng Wu clearing 4.00 m and Huanhuan Yang throwing 51.53 m.

The day’s other record came in the boys’ discus throw, where Iranian Hossein Raouli threw 62.29 m to beat Qatari Moaz Mohamed Ibrahim by just 79 cm. Japan’s Kosei Yamashita earned a surprise bronze with a throw of 56.51. The javelin throw is probably Japan’s strongest event on the field, but Zhekai Liu of China emerged as the only man to clear 70 m, throwing 70.53 m for gold over Japan’s podium fillers Masafumi Azechi and Kentaro Nakamura.

It’s pretty safe to say that with the possible exception of the marathon, there’ll be no event in athletics at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics more anticipated than the men’s 4x100 m. The boys’ team gave the home crowd a taste of what everyone is hoping to see by taking gold in 39.65, just beating out a strong Taiwanese squad.

The 4x100 m proved to be the boys’ only gold of the day, as the rest of the day’s medal haul included silvers in the 100 m hurdles and 3000 m steeplechase by Rikuto Higuchi and Takumi Yoshida, the latter just losing a great race against Qatar’s MKA Saife Saifeldin, and a bronze by Fuki Torii in an 800 m final won by India’s Anu Kumar in 1:54.11.

The Asian Junior Athletics Championships wrap up Sunday. Watch the live stream or complete replays of each day’s action here.

18th Asian Junior Athletics Championships

Day Three Highlights
Gifu, 6/9/18
click here for complete results

Girls
Girls 800 m Final
1. Ayaka Kawata (Japan) – 2:04.14
2. Ayano Shiomi (Japan) – 2:04.30
3. Dilshi Kumarasinghe (Sri Lanka) – 2:04.53 – PB

Girls’ 100 m Hurdles Final +0.9 m/s
1. Yuiri Yoshida (Japan) – 13.45 – MR, PB
2. Yuwei Lin (China) – 13.55 – PB
3. Hsiao Hui Lin (Taiwan) – 13.61 – PB

Girls’ 3000 m Steeplechase Final
1. Maristela Parami Wasanthi (Sri Lanka) – 10:21.54 – PB
2. Wan Hua Tian (China) – 10:28.24
3. Yuka Nosue (Japan) – 10:38.30

Women’s 4x100 m Final
1. China – 45.06
2. Japan – 45.94
3. Hong Kong – 47.00

Girls’ Pole Vault Final
1. Zuo Cheng Wu (China) – 4.00 m
2. Anastasya Ermakova (Kazakhstan) – 3.60 m
3. Chia Ju Wu (Taiwan) – 3.60 m

Girls’ Long Jump Final
1. Ayaka Kora (Japan) – 6.44 m +0.8 m/s – PB
2. Jia Wei Zhong (China) – 6.44 m +0.4m/s
3. Mirei Yoshioka (Japan) – 5.92 m +0.4 m/s
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4 Sumie Kitada (japan) – 5.83 m -0.3 m/s

Girls’ Discus Throw Final
1. Huanhuan Yang (China) – 51.53 m
2. Yuanyuan Yin (China) – 51.17 m
3. Arpandeep Kaur Bajwa (India) - 46.57 m
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6. Honoka Shiroma (Japan) – 40.91 m

Boys
Boys’ 800 m Final
1. Anu Kumar (India) – 1:54.11
2. Abdolrahim Dorzadeh (Iran) – 1:54.23
3. Fuki Torii (Japan) – 1:54.55

Boys’ 110 m Hurdles Final +0.6 m/s
1. Hao Hua Lu (Taiwan) – 13.61 – PB
2. Rikuto Higuchi (Japan) – 13.71
3. David Yefremov (Kazakhstan) – 13.81

Boys’ 3000 m Steeplechase Final
1. MKA Saife Saifeldin (Qatar) – 8:51.97
2. Takumi Yoshida (Japan) – 8:52.79
3. Trung Cuong Nguyen (‘Vietnam) – 8:59.32 – PB
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4. Arashi Yamamoto (Japan) – 9:02.41

Boys’ 4x100 m Final
1. Japan – 39.65
2. Taiwan – 39.72
3. India – 40.75

Boys’ Discus Throw Final
1. Hossein Raouli (Iran) – 62.29 m – MR
2. Moaz Mohamed Ibrahim (Qatar) – 61.50 m
3. Kosei Yamashita (Japan) – 56.51 m – PB
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5. Toshiaki Abe (Japan) – 55.68 m

Boys’ Javelin Throw Final
1. Zhekai Liu (China) – 70.53 m
2. Masafumi Azechi (Japan) – 68.76 m
3. Kentaro Nakamura (Japan) – 65.36 m

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