Hong Kong, May 28 (IANS) Young Indian female sprinter Nipam made a memorable debut as she won the 100m bronze on the opening day of the U20 Asian Athletics Championships, which got underway in Hong Kong, China, on Thursday.

The 18-year-old national record holder in the U20 women’s 100m was slow off the blocks but regained lost ground as she shifted gears to post a time of 11.62 seconds to win the bronze medal. The sprinter from Uttar Pradesh has a personal best (also national U20 record) of 11.53 seconds, clocked during a domestic meet in April. “I’m excited to have won a bronze medal for the team,” jubilant Nipam said.

Nipam is also a member of the national 4x100m relay team and was confident of winning another medal in the four-day continental meet.

Qatar’s 16-year-old Dana Noor Salem had a good start and eventually won the gold medal with a time of 11.47 seconds. China’s Xinxuan Chen, 16, took home the silver with a time of 11.54 seconds.

India’s Vikas Kumar missed out on a medal as he finished fourth in the men’s 3,000m race. He clocked 8:24.88, a personal best.

In the women’s 400m heats, India’s Neeru Pathak was a comfortable winner in her heat with a time of 54.42 seconds.

Tahura Khatun finished second in her heat with a time of 55.06 seconds. Both athletes have qualified for the final. However, it wasn’t Mohammed Ashfaq’s day. The athlete from Kerala finished fifth in the men’s 400m semis with a time of 47.06 seconds and did not progress to the final.

In the men’s hammer throw, India’s Ashuvendra Pratap Singh (64.34m) and Aman (63.40m) finished seventh and eighth, respectively.

India has a bright chance of winning a medal in the decathlon. Rahul Jakhar was impressive on Day One of the gruelling ten-event competition spread over two days. In the 100m, Rahul Jakhar clocked 10.70 seconds to earn 929 points. In the long jump, he collected 760 points with a leap of 6.77m. In the shot put, his best throw of 13.04m got him 670 points. In the high jump (1.93m), he added 740 points to his tally. In the last event of the day—400m he clocked 50,25 seconds to earn 803 points.

The four-day 22nd Asian U20 Athletics Championships will conclude on May 31.

–IANS

bsk/