Mixed fortunes for Indian athletes at World U20 Championships

Indian athletes enjoyed mixed fortunes at the IAAF World U20 Championships at the Ratina Stadium here on Friday.

In men's javelin throw, Sahil Silwal managed to enter the final with an attempt of 73.22 metres. He took the second spot in Group A of the qualification round behind Nash Lowis of Australia. Lowis achieved a personal best mark of 74.38m.

Arshdeep Singh, the other Indian in the fray, finished a distant 12th in Group A with a best attempt of 63.05 m.

He achieved the mark with his third throw, having managed 61.62m and 62.56m with his first couple of attempts.

Kangaraj Kamalraj did well in the qualification round of the men's triple jump, managing to enter the final with a season's best effort of 15.98m.

That saw him take second place in Group A behind Martin Lamou of France, who leapt to a distance of 16.26m.

Meanwhile, Ashish Jakhar showed early promise in the men's hammer throw before having to be content with the sixth position.

Having started the final with an attempt of 72.56m, the Indian temporarily took the third spot with a throw of 74.59m.

But that ultimately proved to be his best attempt in the final as he could only manage 72.69m, 71.46m, 72.39m and 74.34m with his subsequent throws.

Jake Norris of Britain won the gold medal with a best attempt of 80.65m. Mykhaylo Kokhan of Ukraine took silver with a personal best throw of 79.68m while his compatriot Mykhaylo Havryliuk (77.71) settled for the bronze with another personal best effort.

In men's 4X100m relay, the Indian quartet of Prajwal Mandanna, Akash Kumar, Nithin Balakumar and P.S. Saneesh finished seventh and last in Heat 3 with a time of 41.11 seconds.

--IANS

ajb/nir