Asian Youth Games report

The athletic events of inaugural Asian Youth Games at Singapore (30 June – July 3) witnessed an array of good performances by “future-kids”.   The four-day athletic programme in Bishan Stadium saw fierce battle for the podium finish in 28 events (14 each for boys and girls).  Athletes from 21 nations have earned medals at the newest continental games which explained the universal popularity of the sport. 
 
Singapore, the site of next year’s first-ever Youth Olympic Games, displaying excellent organizational skills as the continental event served as a full ‘dress-rehearsal’ for the August 2010 extravaganza.       
 
China dominate the stage
 
As expected the athletes from People’s Republic of China dominated the scene.  Hurdler Lu Jia-teng and shot putter Li Jun excelled with impressive performances among boys.  Li Jun tossed the 5kg iron ball to 19.45m, the second-best ever behind his 19.82 registered in the Chinese capital this April. Lu Jia-teng clocked 13.96 in the 110m Hurdles. His teammate Chen Dong took the top spot over the intermediate hurdles while Huang Haibing logged a personal best 7.28m to win the long jump.  
 
Among the girls, pole-vaulter Xu Huiqin and metric miler Li Zhi-xuan delivered notable marks. 
           
Japan and Korea shared the sprint honours
 
South Korea’s Lee Sun-yae was a pre-race favourite to win the girls’ 100m with a couple of sub-12 sec clockings back home. Lee did not disappoint her fans as she went on to win the sprint crown with a moderate time of 12.16. Another Lee (Seonhye) took home the second gold in javelin throw.     
 
Masaki Nashimoto got out of the blocks first and it did the tricks as he left behind favourite Kittisak Phiraksa of Thailand and local-star Mohd Shahrir to become the ‘fastest boy’ in 10.82 secs.  His teammates Masanari Oishi (400m) and Hibasa Sho (pole vault) among boys and hurdler Mayu Ueda among girls contributed title-honours.    
 
Indian throwers’ steal the show
 
A small crew of Indian athletes went home with 4 gold, 2 silver and an equal number of bronze medals.  Discus thrower Arjun and javelin thrower Rohit Kumar humbled their opposition with sterling performances.  Kumar, the new sensation among Indian throwers, hurled the spear to a new national youth best of 74.70m and was one of the earliest qualifiers for next year’s IAAF World junior championships at Moncton, Canada.
 
India also had a ‘double-delight’ through its half-milers. Ravi Kumar and Namita Kabat signed off in style by winning the boys and girls 800m respectively on the final day of athletic competitions on Friday (3).   Ravi received a stiff challenge from Iranian Amir Beyranvand throughout the race, but piped the Arab at the post.  On the other hand, Kabat ran virtually a solo race to win the girls’ race. 
 
Thailand , the South East Asia ’s athletics powerhouses, claimed the relays besides taking girls 400m and long jump events.  Waleed Saleh Ali gave Yemen a gold medal in the boys’ metric mile while Iranian girl Golahmadi Nazanin was a surprise winner in shot put, which ended as a two-horse race! 
 
Ram. Murali Krishnan for the IAAF
 
Top Results:
 
BOYS:
 
100m (3):
1. Masaki Nashimoto JPN 10.82; 2. Kittisak Phiraksa THA 11.11; 3. Mohd. Anuar Shahrir SIN 11.13;
 
400m (2):
1. Masanori Oishi JPN 48.92; 2. Thongpoon Nitipol THA 49.27; 3. Abdullah Akbar Ahmed KSA 49.29;
 
800m (3):
1. Ravi Kumar IND 1:55.91; 2. Amir Beyranvand IRI 1:55.93; 2. E. Herath SRI 1:56.33;
 
1,500m (30):
1. Waleed Saleh Ali YEM 4:00.91; 2. Rahul Kumar IND 4:05.01; 3. Amir Beyranvand IRI 4:05.32;
 
110m Hurdles (2):
1. Lu Jiateng CHN 13.96; 2. Al Haydar Nader Ahmed KSA 14.12; 3. Wu Han-Wei TPE 14.52;
 
400m Hurdles (2):
1. Chen Dong CHN 53.19; 2. Selwyn Jebaraj Mervin IND 54.41; 3. Karam Yousef KUW 54.80;
 
High Jump (3):
1. Wei Ren CHN 2.02; 2. Kim Yeon-jae KOR 2.00; 3. Sergey Oleshko KAZ 2.00;
 
Pole Vault (30):
1. Hibasa Sho JPN 4.81; 2. Chi Chien-Hao TPE 4.30; 3. Lim Zi Qing Sean SIN 4.30;
 
Long Jump (2):
1. Huang Haibing CHN 7.28; 2. Pang Ying Kit HKG 6.81; 3. Alhasan Mohammad Yaseen KSA 6.68;
 
Triple Jump (3):
1. Konstantin Kudryashov KAZ 14.80; 2. Yan Tun CHN 14.59; 3. Ruslan Kurbanov UZB 14.59;
 
Shot Put (3):
1. Li Jun CHN 19.45; 2. Mehdi Kargar Nejad IRI 16.76; 3. Panyawut Bumroong THA 15.95;
 
Discus Throw (30):
1. Arjun Kumar IND 58.72; 2. Kenta Akiba JPN 51.84; 3. Yevgeniy Milovatskiy KAZ 51.73;
 
Javelin Throw (2):
1. Rohit Kumar IND 74.70; 2. Cheng Chao-Tsun TPE 71.97; 3. Raheem Khan PAK 60.73;
 
4 x 200m Relay (3):
1. Thailand 1:27.89; 2. Sri Lanka 1:32.57; 3. Bahrain 1:33.57;
 
GIRLS:
 
100m (3):
1. Lee Sun-yae KOR 12.16; 2. Akane Kim ura JPN 12.36; 3. He Jiawen CHN 12.44;
 
400m (2):
1. Yuadthong Benjamas THA 57.38; 2. Mikhina Elina KAZ 57.73; 3. Hsu Yu-Wen TPE 58.01;
 
800m (3):
1. Namita Kabat IND 2:14.44; 2. Ca Thi Than VIE 2:20.43; 3. Swe Li Myint MYA 2:22.14;
 
1,500m (30):
1. Li Zhi-xuan CHN 4:34.44; 2. Ko Yong Sim PRK 4:36.80; 3. Pooja Varhade IND 4:39.04;
 
100m Hurdles (2):
1. Ueda Mayu JPN 14.18; 2. Park Suelgi KOR 14.67; 3. Leong Inez Hui Xin SIN 15.22;
 
400m Hurdles (2):
1. Cheng Yafan CHN 1:02.15; 2. Le Binh Dinh VIE 1:02.79; 3. Sushma Mekala IND 1:03.44;
 
High Jump (30):
1. Wu Meng-Chia TPE 1.75; 2. Fung Wai Yee HKG 1.73; 3. Svetlana Proshkina UZB 1.68;
 
Pole Vault (1):
1. Xu Huiqin CHN 3.75; 2. Remi Odajima JPN 3.55; 3. Jong Un Sim PRK 3.00;
 
Long Jump (30):
1. Pennapa Tantragool THA 5.58; 2. Thomas Reyma Alen QAT 5.06; 3. Wu Qin Yu Melissa SIN 4.94;
 
Triple Jump (1):
1. Kim Jong Gum PRK 12.34; 2. Yang Xiuhong CHN 12.17; 3. Alexandra Soloyeva KAZ 11.91;
 
Shot Put (1):
1. Golahmadi Nazanin IRI 8.77; 2. Omar Ba Fatima QAT 8.21; (only two athletes);
 
Discus Throw (2):
1. Gu Yu CHN 45.43; 2. Insaeng Subenrat THA 42.98; 3. Pak Kum Hyang PRK 39.43;
 
Javelin Throw (3):
1. Lee Seonhye KOR 41.10; 2. Stephanie Cimato PHI 36.21; (only two athletes);
 
4 x 200m Relay (3):
1. Thailand 1:41.29; 2. Japan 1:44.36; 3. Sri Lanka 1:45.14.