Javelin thrower Annu Rani, steeple chaser Avinash Sable won a silver each while 5000m runner Parul Choudhary and quartermiler M R Povamma grabbed bronze medals on the opening day of the Asian Athletics Championships on Sunday.
On a day which saw sprint sensation Hima Das suffer a lower back spasm while runner her quartermile event, Dutee Chand smashed her own national record in 100m dash to qualify for the semifinals.
The 26-year-old Annu, who had won a bronze in the 2017 edition in Bhubaneswar, hurled the spear to a best distance of 60.22m to grab the silver. China's Lyu Huihui won the gold with an effort of 65.83m at the Khalifa Stadium.
Annu's performance was, however, more than 2m short of her national record shattering effort of 62.34m during the Federation Cup at Patiala last month, which earned her a berth in the World Championships to be held at the same venue in September-October.
"I was keen on doing well as I knew I had trained well for the event. I was pumped up and would have got my career best had I not thrown from far behind the line," Annu said after winning the medal.
The other Indian in the fray, Sharmila Kumari finished seventh with a best throw of 54.48m.
The 24-year-old Parul gave India the second medal as she finished third in women's 5000m race, clocking a personal best of 15 minutes 36.03 seconds. She bettered her earlier personal best of 15:58.35 which she had clocked during the Federation Cup last month.
"I did not worry about the leaders stepping up the pace. I ran according to plan and how my body felt," Parul said.
The other Indian in the fray, Sanjivani Jadhav finished fourth with a time of 15:41.12
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