India's Mayookha Johny Wins Asian Women's Long Jump Gold

Kobe, Japan, Jul 7: India's Mayookha Johny took a 6.56 metre leap to win the women's long jump gold in the  Asian athletic championships here today.

Mayookha was  .04 metre ahead of Lu Minjia of China. Saeko Okayama of Japan was third with a jump of 6.51 meters.

India's V G Shivegowda won the silver in the Men's Discus throw.

Ehsan Hadadi of Iran won the men's discus to capture his fourth consecutive title in the event. Hadadi, a two-time Asian Games champion, had a throw of 62.27 meters to edge V.G. Shive Gowda on India by 69 centimeters. Wu Jian of China was third after a throw of 56.61 meters.

India's Preeja Sridharan had to be content with bronze in the women's 10,000 metre event.

Asian Games bronze medalist Shitaya Eshete Habtegebrel of Bahrain beat teammate Kareema Jasim Saleh with a time of 32:47.80 in the 10,000 metre event. Saleh finished in 32:50.70 to finish second while Preeja Sreedharan iof India was third in 33:15.55.

Mahboob Ali Hasan Mahbood pulled ahead of Bilsuma Gelassa on the last lap Thursday to win the men's 10,000 meters on the opening day of the Asian athletics championships.

The two Bahrainis went into the last lap in a dead heat but Mahbood surged ahead with half a lap to go and crossed the finish line at Kobe Universiade Stadium in 28 minutes, 35.49 seconds.

"It was very tough to get a good time in the rain and humidity," said Mahbood, who won the bronze medal at last year's Asian Games Guangzhou. "I tried to get a better time but I am still happy with this win."

Gelassa, the gold medalist at the Asian Games, finished in 28:36.30 while Akinobu Murasawa of Japan was third in 28:40.63.

About 500 athletes from 45 countries are taking part in the July 7-10 meet.

Rain forced the postponement of the men's pole vault, which was moved to Friday.

Masumi Aya of Japan won the women's hammer throw with 67.19 meters to finish ahead of Liu Tingting of China, who had a throw of 65.42. Yuka Murofushi of Japan finished third with 62.50.

In the women's javelin, Liu Chunhua of China won with a throw of 58.05 meters. Chinese teammate Wang Ping was second with a throw of 55.80, while Yuka Sato of Japan finished third with 54.16.

The men's and women's 100 meter events will be held on Friday.

Results Thursday from the Asian Athletics Championships at Kobe Universiade Stadium (distances in meters):

Men

10,000--1, Mahboob Ali Hasan Mahbood, Bahrain, 28:35.49. 2, Bilsuma Gelassa, Bahrain, 28:36.30. 3, Akinobu Murasawa, Japan, 28:40.63. 4, Tsuyoshi Ugachi, Japan, 28:48.53. 5, Suresh Kumar, India, 29:37.62. 6, Ser-Od Bat-Ochir, Mongolia, 29:44.84. 7, Kheta Ram, India, 30:31.85.

Discus--1, Ehshan Hadadi, Iran, 62.27. 2, Shive Gowda, India, 61.58. 3, Wu Jian, China, 56.61. 4, Mahmoud Samini, Iran, 56.22. 5, Musab Momani, Jordan, 54.49.

Women

10,000--1, Shitaya Eshete Habtegebrel, Bahrain, 32:47.80. 2, Kareema Jasim Saleh, Bahrain, 32:50.70. 3, Preeja Sreedharan, 33:15.55. 4, Hitomi Nakamura, Japan, 33:16.62. 5, Kaoru Nagao, Japan, 33:19.14. 6, Kavita Raut, India, 35:24.35.

Long Jump--1, Mayookha Johny, India, 6.56. 2, Lu Minjia, China, 6.52. 3, Saeko Okayama, Japan, 6.51. 4, Juliya Tarasova, Uzbekistan. 5, Marestella Torres, Philippines. 6, P. Maliakhal Anthony, India, 6.27. 7, Kumiko Imura, Japan.

Hammer Throw--1, Masumi Aya, Japan, 67.19. 2, Liu Tingting, China, 65.42. 3, Yuka Murofushi, Japan, 62.50. 4, Naru Kang, South Korea, 62.48. 5, Song Hwa Tan, Malaysia, 54.44. 6, Ayna Mammedova, Turkmenistan, 54.21. 7, R.H. Inggriana, Indonesia, 51.52.

Javelin--1, Liu Chunhua, China, 58.05. 2, Wang Ping, China, 55.80. 3, Yuka Sato, Japan, 54.16. 4, Risa Miyashita, Japan, 52.37. 5, N.L. Babaranda Liyana, Sri Lanka, 51.94. 6, Gim Gyeong-ae, South Korea, 49.96. 7, Rosie Villarito, Philippines, 49.30. AP