Setu Mishra revels in dream international debut with two medals

KOLKATA: Bihar’s Setu Mishra was over the moon after the Indian men’s 4x400m relay team clinched the silver medal at Asian U23 Athletics Championships in Ordos, China, on Sunday.Having already won gold with the 4x400m mixed relay team on the opening day, it was Setu’s second medal at his first international tournament, and he couldn’t have been happier.

“Our only thought was that it was the last event of the championships and we wanted to make the Indian national anthem play once again on Chinese soil,” said Mishra. “We didn’t want to hold anything back. We gave everything we had and ran with the mindset that this was our final race, and we had to give our absolute best.”Not only him but his mother, a CRPF personnel, and Raveendran Sankaran, director general-cum-CEO of the Bihar State Sports Authority (BSSA) were also more than happy. “They said this is history for Bihar because winning both a gold and a silver medal at such a major international championship is a proud moment for the state,” he added.For Odisha’s Astik Pradhan, who ran the opening leg, it was also his second podium finish of the meet.

Sharan Megavarnam and Aman Choudhary were the other members of the quartet, which clocked a personal best of 3:04.24 to finish second. China won the gold in 3:03.46, while Qatar claimed the bronze in 3:06.19.As for the Indian women’s 4x400m relay team of Shravani Sachin Sangle, Sandramol Sabu, Pravallika Narimalla and Nofisa Khatun, they struck gold after clocking 3:33.62.It was India’s second gold medal of the day after men’s javelin thrower Anand Singh topped the podium with a personal best effort of 80.57m, achieved with his final throw.

The effort also made him the latest Indian to breach the 80m mark. Shivam Lohakare added a bronze with a best throw of 77.70m.India also bagged silver in the women’s 4x100m relay, with the quartet of Sanjana, Akshaya Saravanan, Sudheeksha V and Shreeya Rajesh finishing second in 44.68. China took gold in 43.75, while Kazakhstan settled for bronze in 50.90.Powered by a strong final-day performance, India finished the championships with 16 medals — three gold, four silver and nine bronze.There was disappointment, however, for the men’s 4x100m relay team, which finished fourth. Elsewhere, Sudeep was fifth in the men’s high jump, Sachin Garhwal finished sixth in the men’s half marathon race walk, while Aarti was placed fourth in the women’s event.Bhumeshwory Devi Huidrom, who had won bronze in the women’s 800m, could not replicate that performance in the 1500m, finishing seventh in 4:29.81.