22nd Asian Athletics C'ship: Jauna Murmu reaches to 400 mt hurdles final

Indian athlete Jauna Murmu reached the final of women 400 metres hurdles on second day of the 22nd Asian Athletics Championship at the Kalinga Stadium here on Friday.

She qualified for the final round by finishing second in Heat 2 of women 400 metres hurdles.

The heat was topped by Nguyen Thi of Vietnam while the third spot was grabbed by India's Anu R.

The final is scheduled to be held on Saturday evening. Meanwhile, all eyes will be on ace Indian sprinter Dutee Chand, who has stormed into final rounds in the championships. Yesterday ,Dutee entered the semis of women's 100 metre-event with a timing of 11.40 second, topping in her heats.

India have so far bagged seven medals including two gold to sit atop the medal tally.

Shot putter Manpreet Kaur opened India's gold medal account with a career second best throw of 18.28m while long distance runner G Lakhsmanan gave India the second gold with an unexpected win in men's 5000m race at the athletic meet.

Vikas Gowda made a mark on the medals tally as he bagged a bronze medal in men's discus throw event.

Gowda's final score was 60.81m. With 64.54m, Iran's Hadadi Ehsan won the gold while Malaysia's Irfan Muhammad settled for the silver. Meanwhile, distance runner Sanjivani Jadhav also won the bronze in women's 5000m final.

India's Nayana James and Neena V. won the silver and bronze medals respectively while Vietnam's Bui Thi Thu took the top honour in the women's long jump event.

The Asian Championships winner gets automatic berth for the World Championships to be held in London next month.