Sudha Singh bagged silver and Kiran Tiwari fetched bronze in Women's 3000m Steeplechase event as India's medal tally swelled to seven on the third day of the 18th Asian Athletics Championships in Guangzhou on Thursday.
Sudha, who clocked an impressive 10:10.77, was followed by compatriot Kiran with a timing of 10:34.55. Yoshika Tatsumi (10:05.94) of Japan clinched gold in that discipline.
However, India, with one gold, one silver and five bronze medals it has won so far in the championship, slipped down one step to figure fourth in the medal tally.
Indians Elam Singh (8:41.81) closely missed the bronze in men's 3000m steeplechase, while Jaibir Singh clocked average 8:52.16 to come eighth in the same event.
In men's 20km walk, Babubhai Panucha came tentalisingly close to a medal but later finished fifth with a timing of 1:25:11. Panucha was leading at the 6km-mark, but failed to sustain the pace as Chinese Jian Bo (1:22:55) finished first, followed by compatriot Ya Fei (1:22:56) in the event.
Sureka Vazhapilli of India covered 3.80m in the women's pole vault, while Mahan Singh (7.67m) finished a distant seventh in the men's long jump category. Indian woman javelin thrower S Saraswathi (51.15) failed to impress and ranked sixth among seven contenders in the final round.
Meanwhile, Sivadasan Arunjith clocked 21:54 to qualify for the men's 200m semifinal event, but later made a false start and managed a timing of 21.62 to finish sixth.
Among others, Tintu Lukka timed 2:05:63 to qualify for the women's 800m main round, although compatriot Sushma Devi (2:08:63) failed to clear the first heat in that section.
S P Verma (1:52.12) qualified for the second round of men's 800m event, while Satnam Singh (1:52.46) failed in first stage.
China, with 30 medals, including 13 gold, leading the medal tally, with Japan and Bahrain coming second and third respectively.
