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Asian
Athletics 2011 - Top 10 Ranking |
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 Almaty,
30 April 2012: 73rd Asian Athletics Association
council meeting was held at Almaty (KAZ) on April
28.
It was for the first Kazakhstan
Athletics Federation host major AAA meeting in
Almaty.
Council discussed issue of
sponsorship to AAA events and future program of AAA
to promote and strengthen athletics in Asia.
For the first time
Kazakhstan, Central Asian country will host Asian
All Star Athletic Meet, a continental level athletic
competition on 30th Jun 2012 at a newly build
athletic track at the National stadium in Almaty .
Asian All Star meet will serve as a last meet for
athletes aiming to qualify for London 2012 Olympic
Games.
AAA Council was
attended by IAAF President Lamine Diack. President
Kazakhstan Athletics Federation of Pavel Novikov
awarded Lamine Diack with the Golden Order of the
National Olympic Committee of Kazakhstan. |
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11th Asian Cross Country Championship 2012
March 24- Quingzhen ( China)
Final Results |
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Bahraini seniors and Japan juniors ruled
Asian Cross-country Championships
Quingzhen, China – 24 March 2012 : The
athletes from Bahrain virtually dominated the scene
in the 11th Asian Cross-country Championships held
in Quingzhen, China, on Saturday (24 Mar). World
championship finalists Shitaye Eshete and Tejitu
Daba led the assault in women’s race while reigning
Asian Games gold medallists Bilisuma Shume and Hasan
Mahboob Ali did the front running at the men’s
event.
With a change in the
organising cycle of the IAAF World Cross-country
Championships came in to effect from this year, the
focus turned to area and regional championships.
After the previous edition of Asian Cross held in
Bahrain three years ago, the eleventh edition was
originally scheduled in Nepal during 2011. However
the mountain-nation could not conduct it as planned
owing to some administrative reasons and hence the
People’s Republic of China had to organise it this
year.
Shitaye Eshete, who
finished a credible eleventh place in the World
Cross at Bydgoszcz two years ago and one place
behind in last year at Punta Umbria, used all her
experience to triumph in the ladies race in a time
of 26:14. On the track, the 21-year-old Eshete was a
Worlds finalist in Daegu with her sixth place effort
in 10000m and went on to finish fifth in 3000m at
the World Indoor championships in Istanbul earlier
this month.
Tejitu Daba, another Daegu
finalist in 5000m and also with multiple World cross
appearances clocked 26:50, nine seconds ahead of
compatriot Genzebe Shami, for the second spot.
Although Bilisuma Shume and
Hasan Mahboob Ali initially led the men’s race,
country-mate Alemu Bekele took over in the waning
moment and went on to win the 12k event in 35:33.
Teammate Dejene Regassa, reigning Asian champion
over 5000m at Kobe last year, edged Shume 35:39 to
35:41 while Ali finished fourth in 36:18.
Japan, the former Asian
power-house in athletics and still a force to reckon
in distance running in the continent, made serious
efforts to deliver a commendable show in the junior
races. Shota Baba took the 8k for junior men in
25:07 whereas Miyuki Uehara annexed the prime place
among the junior women in 6k at 20:26.
Hosts China was runner-up in women’s race as well as
in both junior divisions besides finished fourth in
the men’s event. ( Ram. Murali Krishnan for AAA) |
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Asian 20KM Walking Championship 2012
Nomi-Shi, Japan- 11 March
Final Results
Men |
Women | Olympic
Trial-
Men -
Women |
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China clinch Asian Race Walking titles in Nomi
Nomi-In recent years the All-Japan Race Walking competitions in Nomi have incorporated the Asian 20km Race Walking Championships, and that was also the case with the 36th edition of the competition which was held on Sunday morning (11).
This being a recognised Area competition conducted under the supervision of the Asian Athletics Association, the Nomi event served as an Olympic qualification race.
Two little-known walkers from China, Zhu Chundong and Ding Huiqin, went home with the title honours. Chundong improved nearly seven seconds to his previous best to win the men’s crown in 1:21:22.
India’s national record-holder Gurmeet Singh, after leading most part of the race, finished in second place, nine seconds later. Singh already obtained the Olympic qualification when he clocked 1:22:05 during the Dublin Grand Prix of Race Walking last year. Besides that 1:20:23 during the Indian inter-railway championships at Bhubaneswar last month.
Singh was 19 seconds ahead of Chundong in the half-way mark at Nomi and maintained his form with another eight seconds lead when crossed the 15k mark. However fatigue took its toll as the Chinese snatch the front position from the Indian in the final kilometre.
Korean walker Byun Young Jun finished third for the bronze medal in 1:21:42, just a shade away from Japan’s Isamu Fujisawa.
Although only one athlete from a country is allowed to compete in each category at the Asian race walking championships, India and Iran obtained special permission to field additional entries to attain Olympic qualification as the Nomi event was one of the pre-designated races to achieve the London grade.
In the women’s race, Ding Huiquin won the top spot in 1:30:14 at her first-ever competition outside the walled-country. Rei Inoue of Japan officially took the silver position in 1:34:06 although two of her country-mates, Masumi Fuchise (1:30:36) and Mayumi Kawasaki (1:30:51), finished well ahead of her in the national competition held concurrently.
Nguyen Thi Thanh Phuc of Vietnam was a joyous woman when she achieved the “B” standard for London Olympics when clocked 1:35:13, which brought her the bronze medal as well. It was only her second-ever international competition besides her gold medal winning South East Asian Games at Palembang, Indonesia, last year. |
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5th Asian Indoor Athletics Championship 2012
18-19 Feb, Hangzhou ( China)
Final
Results |
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 Asian
Indoor Athletics Championship 2012
Day 2- 19 Feb
Barshim scaled to 2.37m World Lead in
Asian Indoor championships
Hangzhou, China –
19 February 2012
The final day of the 5th
Asian Indoor athletics championships witnessed a
record being bettered in every other event, but the
Qatari youngster Mutaz Essa Barshim take the sheen
away from others with his high octane 2.37m World
Lead in high jump.
In fact Barshim was
leading the six title defenders from last edition of
the championships, which held two years ago in
Teheran, to Hangzhou. Having arrived here with a
2.33m area record set in Spala, just a week ago, he
was already a top-ranking athlete in the two-day
meet. Barshim’s mark bettered the star Chinese high
jumper Zhu Jianhua’s 26-year-old continental mark in
indoors by 2 cm.
Although he could have
easily win here with a lower height, the Qatari
wanted to prove that he would not take anything for
granted after a forgettable ‘fall’ in the World
Indoor championships at ‘home’ in 2010. Barshim did
not look back thereafter as he went on to win two
coveted titles later that year—the World Junior
championships in Moncton and the quadrangular Asian
Games in Guangzhou.
Today when he cleared
2.37m, adding 4 cm to his newly acquired area
record, the entire arena responded with a standing
ovation. With that jump Barshim snatched the
season’s WL from Russian Andrey Silnov, who hitherto
led the list with his 2.36m at Moscow since February
5. With today’s win Barshim is expected to ignite
further fireworks at Istanbul, during the next
month’s World indoor meet.
Li Ling vaulted to
4.50 area record
Revealing their champion
status, the hosts took top spot in half of the
fourteen finals contested today to stand tall on the
medal tally. China also had two medal sweeps in
men’s triple jump and shot put. In both the events
their bronze medals were decided by just 1 cm.
However it was the women athletes who ruled the
roost for the land of dragons today.
Hails
from Zhejiang province, to which Hangzhou is the
regional capital, pole vaulter Li Ling saw the home
support as an added asset. It clearly reflected in
her splendid show here as she vaulted to a magical
4.50m for the gold. Ling replaced her country-mate
Zhang Yingning’s old record 4.46m set in Shanghai
five years ago from the books. Incidentally she won
the last Asian Indoor Games title in Hanoi with a
4.45m effort and was consistent at that height since
2008. Like Barshim, the Chinese vaulter also a medal
contender in Istanbul.
Dong Bin defends title
Triple jumper Dong Bin was lucky to defend his
title after landed on the pit in an identical
distance of 17.01m with teammate Cao Shuo here. Shuo
touched the 17m earlier this month, after a gap of
three years, at the National Grand Prix in Nanjing.
Li Yanxi took the bronze in 16.23, just a shade away
from Kazakh jumper Roman Valiyev’s 16.22 fourth
place.
Shot putter Zhang Jun, who recorded an
indoor area best of 20.16m in the Nanjing NGP,
tossed the iron ball to a new meet distance of
19.78m. The former World University Games silver
medallist received some challenge from teammate Wang
Guangfu, who ultimately landed in silver position at
19.40m while Wang Like completed the Chinese sweep
on the podium by pushing Gholoum Ahmad of Kuwait
19.09 to 19.08 for the bronze medal.
Lyudmila Grankovskaya of Khazakhstan, the only woman
gold medallist of last edition to enter here,
finished third in triple jump. China were 1-2 in
this event with World and Olympic finalist Xie Limei
taking the top place in a moderate 14.06m. However
Kuwaiti runner Mohammad Al-Azimi successfully
defends his title in the men’s 800m with a
championship record of 1:47.37.
Bahraini
distance runners continue to dominate in both the
divisions. Proving his supremacy, the Daegu Worlds
finalist and Shugi Bilisuma capped the 3000m gold
with a meet mark 7:43.88 on his maiden indoor
appearance. In a similar act, his teammate and
another Daegu finalist Shitaye Eshete did the same
in the women’s race with a time of 8:49.27.
In sprints, Iranian Reza Ghasemi dashed to gold in
6.68 secs. His teammate Hassan Heidarpour, who
clocked an impressive 6.59 in the semi-finals
yesterday, finished third at 6.78s. Local star Wei
Yongli posted a season’s best 7.37 secs to win the
women’s race. Kazakh sprinter Viktoriya Zyabkina,
sets a meet record 7.33 in semis, had to be settled
with a bronze in 7.44s today.
The men’s relay
was not contested due to insufficient entries. (Ram.
Murali Krishnan for AAA) |
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Asian
Indoor Athletics Championship 2012
Day 1- Results
Hangzhou, China – 18 February 2012
As expected hosts China
dominated the proceedings on the opening day of 5th
Asian indoor athletics championships here on
Saturday (18) by claiming the top honours in seven
out of eleven finals held on the opening day’s
competitions.
However athletes from Arab
nations had also something to cheer with Iranians
Reza Bouazar and Maryam Toosi annexed the gold in
the 400m for men and women respectively. Bouazar,
the silver medallist in the last edition of the
championships at home in Teheran two years ago was
challenged by host nation’s Chang Pengben. However
experience was on the side of the Iranian as he
powered to victory in the last 50m to finish well
ahead of the Chinese in 48.09 secs. Toosi also had
similar challenge from Chen Jingwen of China but a
strong finish wherein she improved her area leading
mark to 53.85 secs helped her securing the title.
Incidentally Iran hosted the inaugural edition of
the continental indoor meet in 2004 and another two
years ago.
Leading the seven winners
from China are high jumper Zheng Xingjuan and long
jumper Li Jinzhe. Xingjuan, fifth at the last world
indoor championships at Doha in 2010, sailed over
1.92m comfortably for the gold. However her
intention to better defending champion Marina
Aitova’s meet mark of 1.93m could not materialised
as she failed in her all three attempts at 1.95m.
East Asian Games champion Li Jinzhe started badly as
he failed to record any valid mark on first two
rounds. However he assured the top place at his
fourth round 7.73m and consolidated it further with
a last round 7.98m to win the event. Japan’s Rikiya
Saruyama, the defending champion in this event,
settled with a silver medal in 7.63 while Indian
teenager Kumaravel Premkumar was lucky to get a
bronze medal just 1 cm behind him. Lin Qing, last
year’s World Youth champion, also jumped 7.62m but
placed fourth on tie-break. Indian junior champion
Premkumar, who hails from a poor family, recorded
7.92m at the national trials in Bangalore two weeks
ago. But what surprises everyone was the fifth place
finish of Zhang Xiaoyi, the top contender to win
here with his excellent 8.20m mark at the National
Grand Prix in Nanjing barely a week ago. Xiaoyi,
after a second round 7.61m, passed the final three
attempts owing to injury.
Chinese hurdlers Jiang Fan
(7.74) and Wu Shuijiao (8.24) posted new meet marks
to win in their respective categories. Fan, the
world varsity games silver medallist in 110m
hurdles, was the first athlete to defend the title
in the biennial championships where six gold
medallists from 2010 are taking part. Berlin world
championship finalist Liu Xiangrong was another
athlete to improve the championship best with her
18.37m toss with the iron ball here.
Reigning Asian Games champion Mohamad Othman
Shahween of Saudi Arabia and last year’s open area
Asian champion Shumi Regasa Gensebi of Bahrain had
comfortable wins in the metric mile and were the
other non-chinese victors today.( Ram. Murali
Krishnan for AAA) |
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Asian
Indoor Athletics Championship 2012-
Hangzhou (
China) ,18-19 Feb
Preview /
Asian
Indoor Records /
Asian
Indoor Leaders
Hangzhou, China –
16 February 2012 : Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang
province in Eastern China, will be hosting the 5th
edition of Asian indoor athletics championship on
February 18 and 19. Athletes from more than twenty
member federations of Asian Athletics Association
are taking part in the two day meet.
As per
the provisional list of entries, six defending
champions from the last edition held at Teheran two
years ago are looking to defend their title this
weekend. Leading the title defenders is the young
Qatari high jumper Essa Barshim Mutaz, the reigning
Asian champion and world junior championship gold
medallist in 2010. On February 11 this year, Mutaz
bettered the 26-year-old Asian indoor record held in
the name of China’s Zhu Jianhua by 2 cm to a
fantastic 2.33m. He is expected make further
fireworks in Hangzhou en route to world indoor
championship at Istanbul, later next month.
Double distance running champion Mohamed Al-Azimi
(Kuwait), long jumper Rikiya Saruyama (Japan)
besides two local heroes Jiang Fan (60m hurdles) and
Dong Bin (triple jump) are the other athletes to
defend their title here. Kazakh long jumper Lyudmila
Grankovskaya was the only star from the last edition
entered on the women’s side.
Six athletes,
all women, who adorned last year’s podium in the
outdoor Asian championships in Kobe are also trying
their luck in indoors at Hangzhou. Four of them are
Chinese while the remaining two hails from Bahrain.
Hurdler Sun Yawei, high jumper Zheng Xingjuan,
triple jumper Xie Limei and shot putter Meng
Qianqian are in the host-team while distance runners
Gensebe Shami and Tejitu Daba included in the
Baharaini challenge here. Mayookha Johny of India,
the Asian champion in long jump, have preferred to
remain at her training-base in Berlin and hence
skipped the indoor meet after being first entered by
her national federation.
The host team is
expected to throw high octane performance as they
geared-up for the continental challenger at home.
Their medal tally is expected to inflate since the
hosts are permitted to field three athletes per
event as against two by other competing teams. Zhang
Jun, who recently surpassed the Asian indoor mark in
shot put with a massive 20.16m at Nanjing during the
two-day National Grand Prix is looking tall among
the contestants. Long jumper Zhang Xiaoyi, who
leaped 8.20m in the same meet, will be another
notable athlete to watch in Hangzhou.
With
the performances here in all field events as well as
track events in 400m and above are considered for
achieving the qualification standard for the Olympic
Games in London, the championship is expected to
witness several outstanding marks. ( Ram. Murali
Krishnan for AAA) |
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Asian Athletics Association wishes all its member federations,
council members, athletes, coaches and technical officials from Asia
a very Happy New Year 2012.
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