Asian U18 Athletics C'ships: Nitin Gupta, Tannu win silver medal on track

Indian athletes had a good second day at the U18 Asian Athletics Championships, winning our medals -2 Silver, 2 Bronze - in Dammam, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

Nitin Gupta opened India's medal tally at the Championships with a silver medal in the men's 5,000m racewalk event, finishing second to China's Zhu Ninghao by a mere 0.01s.

The 17-year-old from Uttar Pradesh was leading the race heading into the final 50m but a premature celebration saw him miss out on a well deserved gold medal. He clocked 20:21.51s.

Nitin had recently smashed his own National record with 19:24.48 seconds, becoming the first Indian U-18 to go sub-20 in a 5km Racewalk.

Meanwhile, Tannu clinched a silver medal in women's 400m, clocking 57.63s in the final. Japan's Saki Imamine clinched the gold medal with a time of 57.27s.

The 16-year-old Tannu hadn't had a good start to the final, but she made a comeback in the final 100m, making a good surge in pace which pushed her into medal positions.

Bronze for Nischay and Aarti

Later in the day, Aarti continued her form in the final of women's 100m to clinch a bronze medal with a time of 11.93s, marginally missing out on a silver medal by 0.01s to Sri Lanka's Sewmini.

On the other hand, Nischay clinched India's first medal at the field event in this competition, bagging a bronze medal in men's discus throw with he best throw of 58.85m, finishing behind the two Chinese throwers.