Athletics
Asian Indoor Athletics C'ships: Praveen Chithravel finishes 4th, Manikanta disqualified
Praveen Chitharavel had yet another failure, missing out on the men's triple jump podium with a modest jump of 16.22m.
Praveen Chitravel finished 4th at Asian Infoor Championships 2026. (Photo Credits: AFI)
Indian athletics contingent had a disappointing start to their 2026 Asian Indoor Championships, with Praveen Chithravel finishing fourth and Manikanta Hoblidhar getting disqualified in Tianjin, China, on Friday.
Praveen had a below par start to the season as he missed out on the men's triple jump podium with a modest leap of 16.22m, finishing 4th behind three Chinese athletes.
He started with a 15.66m leap, which he marginally increased in following jumps before the 16.22m on his final attempt. He was 0.23m short of the bronze medalist Ma Yinglong, who registered a best effort of 16.45m.
On the other hand, one of India's top sprinters, Manikanta Hoblidhar, faced a disqualification in preliminary round of the men's 60m due to a false start.
He received a direct red card after officials called a restart in Heat-3 for a false start, ending his campaign in China without running a single race.
This was slated to be the first 60m indoor race for India's 100m specialist, but now he will have to wait a little more to record his first timings in the event.
On the other hand, pentathlete KA Anamika has a challenging start to her campaign, currently sitting in 5th place after three events - 60m Hurdles (8.97s), High Jump (1.70m) and Shot Put (10.74m).