Bronze was the color of Japan's luck on the third day of athletics competition at the Jakarta Asian Games, with three Japanese athletes medaling in jumps and hurdles. Takatoshi Abe was a favorite to medal in the men's 400 m hurdles, no match for championships record-breaking Qatari Abderrahman Samba but running a strong 2nd throughout the race. Coming into the home straight Abe had a sizable lead over Taiwan's Chen Chieh and Indian Dharun Ayyasamy, but as he came off the bend he began to tie up. Ayyasamy saw his chance and kicked hard, catching Abe just before the line to take silver and knock Abe back to bronze.
One of Japan's strongest medal contenders, Naoto Tobe had something of an off day in the men's high jump, struggling to clear 2.24 m and tying for bronze with Syrian Majd Eddin Ghzal while winner Yu Wang of China went on to clear 2.30 m. Takashi Eto cleared 2.24 m on his final attempt to move into 6th but passed on the subsequent heights with an apparent injury.
The surprise third medal came in the men's 3000 m steeplechase. Hakone Ekiden runner Kazuya Shiojiri, a Rio Olympian in the steeple but versatile at other distances with bests of 13:33.14, 27:47.87 and 1:02:46, came out aggressively and led the race the entire way to the last lap. Iran's Hossein Keyhan and Qatari Yaser Bagharab went by at the bell and it looked like Shiojiri would be swallowed up by the Kenyan-born Bahraini duo and others right behind him, but digging deep he held them off to take bronze in 8:29.42, a fraction of a second off the PB he set in winning June's National Championships. Keyhan's last kick was stunning, opening 6 seconds on Bagharab to win gold in an Asian Games record 8:22.79. Japan's Kosei Yamaguchi was 9th in 8:47.41.
The men's javelin silver medalist last time in Incheon, this year Ryohei Arai could manage no better than 75.24 for 7th. Eri Utsunomiya was also 7th in the women's 400 m hurdles, with Yukari Ishizawa 8th in the women's 3000 m steeplechase. Among qualifiers, in the women's 800 m both Ayano Shiomi and Yume Kitamura made it to the final while in the men's 800 m only national record holder Sho Kawamoto went on, the slowest time qualifier but recording the 4th-fastest time going into the final. Both Taio Kanai and Shunya Takayama qualified for the final in the men's 110 m hurdles.
Jakarta Asian Games Day Three Japanese Results
Jakarta, Indonesia, 8/27/18complete results
Women's 3000 m Steeplechase Final
1. Winifred Yavi (Bahrain) - 9:36.52
2. Sudha Singh (India) - 9:40.03
3. Tri Qanh Nguyen (Vietnam) - 9:43.83
4. Xinyan Zhang (China) - 9:46.30
5. Shuangshuang Xu (China) - 9:47.42 - PB
-----
8. Yukari Ishizawa (Japan) - 10:13.53
Men's 3000 m Steeplechase Final
1. Hossein Keyhan (Iran) - 8:22.79 - MR
2. Yaser Bagharab (Qatar) - 8:28.21
3. Kazuya Shiojiri (Japan) - 8:29.42
4. John Koech (Bahrain) - 8:32.72
5. Hashim Mohamed (Qatar) - 8:35.40
-----
9. Kosei Yamaguchi (Japan) - 8:47.41
Women's 400 m Hurdles Final
1. Oluwakemi Adekoya (Bahrain) - 54.48 - MR
2. Thi Lan Quach (Vietnam) - 55.30 - PB
3. Aminat Jamal (Bahrain) - 55.65
4. Anu Raghavan (India) - 56.92
5. Yan Huang (China) - 57.48
5. Juana Murmu (India) - 57.48
7. Eri Utsunomiya (Japan) - 58.97
8. Dipna Lim Prasad (Singapore) - 59.68
Men's 400 m Hurdles Final
1. Abderrahman Samba (Qatar) - 47.66 - MR
2. Dharun Ayyasamy (India) - 48.96 - PB
3. Takatoshi Abe (Japan) - 49.12
4. Chieh Chen (Taiwan) - 49.62
5. Santosh Kumar Tamilarasan (India) - 49.66
6. Dmitriy Koblov (Kazakhstan) - 50.60
7. Eric Shauwn Cray (Phillippines) - 51.53
8. Seh Yun Han (South Korea) - 51.65
Men's High Jump Final
1. Yu Wang (China) - 2.30 m
2. Sang Hyeok Woo (South Korea) - 2.28 m
3. Naoto Tobe (Japan) - 2.24 m
3. Majd Eddin Ghzal (Syria) - 2.24 m
5. Mahamat Hamdi (Qatar) - 2.24 m
6. Takashi Eto (Japan) - 2.24 m
Men's Javelin Throw Final
1. Neeraj Chopra (India) - 88.06 m
2. Qizhen Liu (China) - 82.22 m - PB
3. Arshad Nadeem (Pakistan) - 80.75 m
4. Qun Ma (China) - 80.46 m
5. Chao Tsun Cheng (Taiwan) - 79.81 m
-----
7. Ryohei Arai (Japan) - 75.24 m
Women's 800 m Semifinal Standings
1. Marta Yota (Bahrain) - 2:04.35 - Q, Heat 1
2. Ayano Shiomi (Japan) - 2:04.46 - Q, Heat 1
3. Margarita Mukasheva (Kazakhstan) - 2:04.52 - q, Heat 1
4. Manal El Bahraoul (Bahrain) - 2:05.23 - Q, Heat 3
5. Yume Kitamura (Japan) - 2:05.31 - Q, Heat 3
6. Gayanthika Artigala (Sri Lanka) - 2:06.31 - q, Heat 3
8. Chunyu Wang (China) - 2:08.99 - Q, Heat 2
11. Thi Ly Vu (Vietnam) - 2:10.50 - Q, Heat 2
Men's 800 m Semifinal Standings
1. Jinson Johnson (India) - 1:47.39 - Q, Heat 1
2. Jamal Hairana (Qatar) - 1:47.45 - Q, Heat 1
3. Indunil H.E.M.I.G. (Sri Lanka) - 1:47.54 - q, Heat 1
4. Sho Kawamoto (Japan) - 1:48.07 - q, Heat 1
5. Abraham Rotich (Bahrain) - 1:48.24 - Q, Heat 2
6. Abubaker Abdalla (Qatar) - 1:48.25 - Q, Heat 3
7. Amir Moradi (Iran) - 1:48.31 - Q, Heat 2
8. Singh Manjit (India) - 1:48.64 - Q, Heat 3
-----
10. Takumi Murashima (Japan) - 1:48.36, Heat 2
Men's 110 m Hurdles Semifinal Standings
1. Ahmed Khader Al Muwallad (Saudi Arabia) - 13.51 - Q, Heat 3
2. Kueiru Chen (Taiwan) - 13.63 - Q, Heat 3
3. Wenjun Xie (China) - 13.64 - Q, Heat 1
4. Byoung Jun Kim (South Korea) - 13.73 - q, Heat 3
5. Jianhang Zeng (China) - 13.78 - q, Heat 3
6. Taio Kanai (Japan) - 13.81 - Q, Heat 1
8. Shunya Takayama (Japan) - 13.84 - Q, Heat 2
9. Weiting Yang (Taiwan) - 13.86 - Q, Heat 2
© 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Comments