Pakistan’s Afzal scoops a surprise gold in triple jump

Mohamed Afzal of Pakistan leaps 15.44 metres to win the triple jump gold at the Asian Youth Athletics Championships at Qatar Sports Club yesterday. Right: India’s Jisna Mathew is congratulated by her coach P T Usha after winning the 400m silver at the Asian Youth Athletics Championships yesterday. PICTURES: Jayaram

By Yash Mudgal/DohaMohamed Afzal won Pakistan’s first gold medal at the Asian Youth Athletics Championships yesterday, when he emerged champion in the triple jump. Indian athletes continued to shine on the third day as well, winning three silver and four bronze medals.Afzal’s 15.44m jump was enough to secure the gold as his closest rival, Chamal Kumarasiri Waduge of Sri Lanka ended with 15.39m to claim silver. Sonu Kumar of India, with a distance of 15.08m, some 42 centimetres behind his personal best, took bronze.Pakistan’s Afzal surprised his fans and himself with the gold medal winning performance. “Yes, this is a surprise. I didn’t expect to win the gold but I knew I would fight hard,” Afzal said. “I have been training well. I thank my coaches back home for their valuable inputs,” the 17-year-old said.“I have been to the SAF Games in India, where I finished fourth. So yes, this is my best ever performance. I hope I can do better than this. I know the boys I was competing against were good. So I stayed focused and decided to give my best,” he said.Another 2015 world youth best performance was set by Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser Naser in the 400m. The young Bahraini was simply unstoppable with her pace, finishing in 53.02 second. India’s Jisna Mathew came second with 53.84, the sixth fastest time in the world this year. The inexperienced Jisna was very impressive, as she came back strongly after a slow start. “I am very happy with my performance. I think it’s my best,” Jisna, who was sixth at second curve, said. “This is my first big event and I am delighted that I lived up to the expectations of my coach and won it in front of her,” the 16-year-old from Kannur district of Kerala said.Jisna was first picked from a selection trial conducted by the Usha School of Athletics in 2011, and is considered to have a huge potential. Her mentor PT Usha believes Jisna’s timing at the meet is special. “To clock such timings at such a young age is noteworthy,” former sprint queen Usha said about Jisna, who is part of the Indian team for the World Youth Championships to be held in Columbia next month.Usha also predicted Jisna to beat her personal best mark. “Jisna has made steady progress at the school nationals and at the youth level. She has been running the 100m and the 200m and it is only recently that she has moved to the 400m. In order to gain experience, I made her run the 400m in Federation Cup. I am happy with her progress,” Usha said.“At this stage I would say Jisna is better than what I was. I am yet to have a look at the timesheet but she has done really well,” Usha, one of Asia’s greatest track and field star, said.The star of the day was China’s hammer thrower Xu Wenjie. He cleared a massive 75.15 metres, a national youth best record and second best performance of all-time, second only to Hungary’s Reka Gyuratz’s 76.04. India’s Ashish Jakhar came second with a performance of 71.79, the fifth best throw ever for the youth category.In the boy’s events, the athlete to watch was undoubtedly Uzbekistan’s Vladislav Palyunin. The 17-year-old from Uzbekistan, who trains and studies in Dubai, bettered his personal best by 18 metres, to claim gold in the Javelin Throw with 79.11, the best performance in the world for 2015.The formidable Chinese team excelled in track events as well, adding three more golds to their total tally.  RESULTSGIRLS: High Jump: 1. Safina Sadullaeva (Uzbekistan) 1.71; 2. Wong Yuen Nam (Hong Kong) 1.70; 3. Nadezhda Dubovitskaya (Kaz) 1.68 Long Jump: 1. Kanae Sugimura (Jpn) 5.90; 2. Huijin Lee (Kor) 5.82; 3. Zeng Rui (Chn) 5.812000M Steeplechase: 1. Tian Wanhua (Chn) 7:01.06, 2. Choe Kang Bok (PRK) 7:14.88; 3. Lada Fomina (Kaz) 7:16.08800m: 1. Arina Kleshchukov (Kgz) 2:14.73; 2. Misato Kaneko (Jpn) 2:15.04; 3. Sara Joe Rafik Kortbawi (Lib) 2:19.64400m: 1. Salwa Naser (Bhr) 53. 02; 2. Jisna Mathew (Ind) 53.84, 3. Shereen Samsonvalla (Mas) 55.14BOYS: Triple Jump:  1. Muhamed Afzal (Pak) 15.44; 2. Chamal Kumarasiri Waduge (Sri) 15.39; 3. Sonu Kumar (Ind) 15.081500m: 1. Huang Peng (Chn) 4:05.85; 2. Kyeongho Lee (Kor) 4:07.08; 3. Hikaru Oya (Jpn) 4:07.27400m: 1. Wu Ang (Chn) 47.55; 2. Nattapong Kongkraphan (Tha) 48.02; 3. Russel Alexander Nasir Taib (Mas) 49.07Javelin Throw: 1. Vladislav Palyunin (Uzb) 79.11; 2. Mohamed Hadish (Ind) 75.52; 3. Abhishek Drall (Ind) 75.72Pole Vault: 1. Yao Wen Yeh (Tpe) 4.90; 2. Mutadher Falah Abdul Wahid (Irq) 4.653; 3. Teuku Tegar Abadi (Ina) 4.50Hammer Throw: 1. Xu Wenjine (Chn) 75.15; 2. Ashish Jakhar (Ind) 71.79; 3. Miraj Ali (Ind) 64.91110m Hurdle: 1. Khaled al-Said Fares (Kuw) 13.92; 2. Xiaosh Bo (Chn) 14.023; Suadi Irwan (Ina) 14.36