Gopi wins Asian marathon title
DONGGUAN(CHINA): Gopi Thonakal became the first Indian man to win the Asian Marathon Championship after he achieved the feat in the 16th edition of the prestigious event here on Sunday.
Thonakal clocked 2 hours, 15 minutes and 48 seconds to clinch gold. Andrey Petrov of Uzbekistan bagged silver with a timing of 2:15:51s, while Byambalev Tseveenravdan of Mongolia won bronze, clocking 2:16:14s.
The 29-year-old from Wayanad district of Kerala had won the New Delhi Marathon in 2:15.37 earlier this year. He was 28th in the London World Championships in August with a timing of 2:17:13. In the Rio Olympics last year, he had clocked his personal best of 2.15.25 while finishing 25th. “I am proud to have won gold for my country. I am also proud to become the first Indian man to have won gold in this championship,” Thonakal said.
He is the third
Indian overall to have won gold in the event. Asha
Agarwal won the women’s title in 1985 when the event was a part of the Asian Track and Field Championships. Sunita Godara won the women’s title in 1992.
ADVANI IN SEMIS
DOHA: Cueist Pankaj Advani has assured India of another medal after storming into the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championships here on Sunday. The 17-time world champion Advani tamed the young and talented Luo Honghao of China 6-2 in the best-of-eleven quarter-final.
GILL TAKES CROWN
CHIKKAMAGALURU: India’s Gaurav Gill came up with another mature drive to retain the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship title, his third since 2013, as he led a Team MRF sweep in the Coffee Day India Rally 2017 here on Sunday. He finished ahead of teammate Ole Christian Veiby of Norway by 17 minutes, 38.4 seconds.
SSP ENDS TIED SEVENTH
HONGKONG: Golfer SSP Chawrasia struggled with a two-over 72 in the final round to finish tied seventh after leading for the first three rounds of the $2 million Ubshongkong Openatthe Hong Kong Golf Club on Sunday. “I was playing well today. I started very good, and then made a triple bogey on nine and from then on, I kept dropping shots,” said Chaw
rasia.
BAJRANG, VINOD ASSURED OF SILVER
NEWDELHI: Asian champion Bajrang Punia and Vinod Kumar entered the final of their respective categories in freestyle of the U-23 World Wrestling Championship in Poland. Bajrang defeated Iran’s Yones Aliakbar 9-7 in 65kg, while Vinod beat a Japanese wrestler 2-1 in 70kg.
SABALENKA WINS
MUMBAI: Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus drubbed Dalila Jakupovic of Slovenia in straight sets to win her maiden WTA singles crown at the $125,000 L&T Mumbai Open tennis tournament here on Sunday.