Text by Ram Murali Krishnan for Asian Athletics

The headline of the Asian U20 Athletics Championships was given at the second day’s evening session, Chinese sprinters erased two long-standing 100m records from the record books in the 21st Asian U20 Athletics Championships.

Keli Zeng (17) ran a marvelous semi-final race in the evening, stopping the clock at 10.15 secs. This fantastic time removed his fellow countryman Li Tao’s championship record of 10.26 secs, which he created in the inaugural edition of the Asian junior championships 38 years ago! It created further anticipation when the athletes lined up for the final later.

In the finals, Keli reacted late to come out from his blocks, perhaps as a caution to avoid making any false start. However, he was quick enough to overtake two athletes from Hong Kong China, Chan Yat Lok and Kwok Chun Ting at the halfway mark to win the race in 10.19 secs. Chan (10.41s) and Kwok (10.46s) took the other two spots. Keli was a silver medalist in the Asian U18 championships at Tashkent last year.

THE 15-YEAR OLD PRODIGY

In the women’s race, Chen Yujie (15), who won the Chinese National Students Games last year in Nanning with a time of 11.43 secs, bettered Sri Lankan Damayanthi Dharsha’s 30-year-old meet mark of 11.42 secs with a brilliant 11.32 secs to win the gold. Like Keli, Chen also had a late start but managed to increase her tempo midway to push Vietnam’s Tran Thi (11.40s) to the silver spot, while Misaki Morimoto of Japan was a distant third in 11.79 secs.

Two more meet marks fell this evening. Quarter-miler Ailixier Wumaier clocked a personal best time of 45.53 secs to win the Junior Men’s 400m, eventually removing Sri Lankan Aruna Dharshana’s 45.79s from the record books. China’s Li Yiqing (46.61s) and Indian Aman Choudhary (47.53s) filled the other places on the podium. Uzbekistan’s Hukmova Jonbibi was the women’s winner in 55.00 secs.

Indians Vinod Singh and Gaurav Bhosale led the 5,000m while the Japanese duo of Orita Sota and Iida Kaito remained with them throughout the race. Vinod was leading at the bell when Sota started charging him and taking over the Indian with 200m to finish. Similarly, Kaito began challenging the other Indian runner, Bhosale, for the bronze position. Ultimately, Sota won the race in 14:08.71, ahead of Vinod (14:09.44) and Kaito (14:09.63). All three medalists bettered the previous championship record of 14:14.65, held by Qatar’s Shebto Moustafa Ahmed since 2004.

ABAKAR STORM

In the third day action, Oumar Doudai Abakar of Qatar, the silver medalist in the previous edition of the championship in Yecheon, ran a thrilling 110m hurdles final. He was the last to come out from the blocks but quickly caught China’s Chen Yuanjiang after 60 metres. Yuanjiang, who won the Chinese National Students Games last year, did not yield to any pressure and was determined to win the race.

 However, Abakar surged fast after the last hurdle in time to dip at the post and narrowly edged out the Chinese to the second spot. Abakar’s winning time of 13.24 secs erased the Championship Record and improved this year’s world-leading time for the U20 category.

Yet another Championship Record was broken on third day (Friday) evening. India was the favourite team to win the 4x400m Mixed Relay. They expected some challenge from last year’s champion, Sri Lanka, besides Kazakhstan. However, the Chinese quartet, which clocked 3:38.57 in the qualifying rounds, emerged as a surprise winner in the final. The Indian Team, which received thundering support from the stands, had the disadvantage of missing their top runner, Bapi Hansda, due to visa issues and thus finished second. Both China (3:22.46) and India (3:34.86) improved the previous record of 3:25.41 held by Sri Lanka. The Lankans finished third today with a time of 3:28.18.

FINAL DAY THRILLS

Thrilling relay finals and distance races took the spotlight on the fourth and final day of the 21st Asian U20 Athletics Championships, which concluded on Saturday at the Dubai Police Stadium.

Japan opened the evening session on a winning note in the junior women’s 100m hurdles, as their athletes Tenka Taninake and Anna Matsuda were 1-2 in the finals ahead of India’s Unnathi Aiyappa. Their winning spree continued in the 800m, in which Ochiai Ko claimed gold at 1:48.01 by defeating favourite Hatim Aitoulghazhi of Qatar to win the silver medal at 1:48.39. More surprising in this race is the third-place finish of defending champion Tachizako Hironori (1:49.73).

Another defending champion who failed to retain her crown was India’s Laxita Sandilea. The Yecheon victor tried to take the top spot in the 1500m. However, Japan’s 16-year-old Drury Sherry proved to be a better runner and delivered a solid finish to win the event in 4:21.41 ahead of the Indian, who finished in 4:25.63.

Japan got the third gold of the day through Mashiko Yota in 3000m. Indian distance runners Gaurav Bhosale and Vikas Kumar Bind gave him the required challenge in the initial stages. Still, Yota was a known fighter with a superior personal best than the Indians. He proved it by finishing 15 seconds ahead of the Indians for the gold (8:16.06).

SPEED OF HONG KONG

The relay races took centre stage once again. Sprint relay quartets from Hong Kong Ching took the gold medals in both boys’ and girls’ sections. In the 4 x 400m relay, the junior women’s from India won in 3:41.50. However, the Thailand boys went home with the gold in a thriller, beating India 3:09.33 to 3:09.36, with Sri Lankan completing the podium in 3:09.48.

China regained the top position in the medals table with 15 gold, 9 silver, and 3 bronze medals. Last year’s medal topper, Japan, finished second (8-5-8), just ahead of the Indians (7-11-11).

Hong Kong will be hosting the next edition of the Asian U20 championships in 2026.