Asian Games 2018: Sudha Singh, Neena Varakil provide silver lining to nation’s medal tally

Jakarta: India’s Sudha Singh and Neena Varakil won silver medals in athletics at the Asian Games here on Monday.

Sudha (pictured above) finished second in the women’s 3000m steeplechase final while Neena was second in women’s long jump final.

Also read: Neeraj Chopra bags historic gold

The 32-year-old Sudha clocked 9:40.33 while the gold medal winning time was 9:36.52, from Winfred Yavi of Bahrain. Oanh Thi Nguyen of Vietnam took bronze in a time of 9.43.83. Another Indian in the field, Chinta came 11th.

In long jump, 28-year-old Neena cleared a jump of 6.51m to win silver. Bui Thi Thu Thao of Vietnam claimed gold (6.55m) while Xiaoling Xu of China took bronze (6.50m).

#TeamIndia at the #AsianGames2018
In a brilliant effort #SudhaSingh wins Silver No. 12 for #TeamIndia in #Athletics Women's 3000m Steeplechase Finals clocking 9:40.03, to come in 2nd! #Chinta finished 11th with a timing of 10:26.21. #WellDone Sudha Singh 👏🇮🇳👟#IAmTeamIndia pic.twitter.com/LYR9wmTlQR

— Team India (@ioaindia) August 27, 2018

Earlier, in men’s 400m hurdles, India’s Dharun Ayyasamy bagged silver. He clocked a personal best time of 48.96 seconds in the final. Abderrehman Samba won the gold (47.66s). Japan’s Takatoshi Abe was third (49.12s).

So far, India has won eight medals in athletics (two gold and six silver). Overall, the nation has 41 medals (eight gold, 13 silver, 20 bronze).