Asian Games 2018: Arpinder's gold ends 48-yr-long wait in men's triple jump

Before the 25-year-old Arpinder, the previous champion was Mohinder Singh Gill in 1970 with an effort of 16.11m.

Arpinder Singh on Wednesday ended India's 48-year wait for a gold medal in the men's triple jump event at the Asian Games as he returned with his best effort of 16.77 metres in the final.

Arpinder pipped Uzbekistan's Ruslan Kurbanov, who took the silver medal with a personal best jump of 16.62 metres. The bronze medal went to Chinese Cao Shuo, who jumped 16.56 metres.

Before the 25-year-old Arpinder, the previous champion was Mohinder Singh Gill in 1970 with an effort of 16.11m.

Another Indian in the fray, A V Rakesh Babu was sixth with a best attempt of 16.40 metres.

On Wednesday, Arpinder flopped in his first attempt. After the invalid jump, he came back strong with a jump of 16.58 metres in the second attempt which made him the leader after the first two attempts.

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Babu, in his second attempt of 16.40, was second behind his compatriot, even as Ruslan till then had his best of 16.28.

Arpinder gained further ascendancy when he came out with a jump of 16.77m. Ruslan too made his best attempt of 16.62 metres. The Uzbek athlete, however, could not topple Arpinder as the former made attempts of 15.99, 16.43, 16.41 in his final three chances respectively.

Arpinder jumped 16.08 in his fourth attempt before fouling the last two attempts.

China's Cao delivered his best in his sixth and last attempt with a jump of 16.56 to push Japanese Kohei Yamashita to the fourth spot.

Yamashita had fouled his last three attempts. His best of 16.46 came in his third attempt.

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I want to open India's Olympic gold account in wrestling: Bajrang Punia

He wants to realise his guru Yogeshwar Dutt dream of a Gold medal at Olympics.

Bajrang Punia struck gold on the very first day of the Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta. He overpowered Japan's Daichi Takatani 11-8 in the final of men's Freestyle 65 kg category to open India's gold medal tally in 18th Asian Games. He wants to do something similar. At a grander stage. To be precise, in Japan's Tokyo, in year 2020; the tournament -- the Olympics. 

Punia has a personal connection with the tournament too. In the 2016 Rio Olympics, his mentor and coach Yogeshwar Dutt could manage a bronze medal. Punia wants to right the wrong. He wants to realise his guru's dream.

In a telephonic interview with Business Standard, the ace Indian wrestler talked about his victory in the Asian Games 2018 and about his next big challenge -- the Tokyo Olympics. Edited excerpts:

Q: We talked to your village head (sarpanch) Dinesh Singh. He is very happy that you won a gold for India. What is your message for your village?

Bajrang: Villagers support me whenever I participate in any event. I wish I keep getting their blessings so that I can keep performing for India and bring glory to the nation and the village.

Q: Your Whatsapp display picture (DP) is of Tokyo 2020. Any special reason behind it?

Bajrang: I put this picture of Tokyo 2020 Olympics (as my DP) a year-and-half ago. I did this to keep myself motivated and win an Olympic gold in wrestling as that figure is still stuck at zero. The way the country and the media is supporting me, I am sure I will bring Gold in Tokyo Olympics.

Q: What is Yogeshwar Dutt's role in your wrestling career?

Bajrang: Yogi bhai has played a crucial role in my wrestling career. He wants me to win an Olympic Gold as he failed to do so in Rio Olympics. Today, I am a wrestler because of Yogeshwar bhai. I want to realise his dream of winning Gold in Olympics and I am working on that.

Question: According to various media reports, Yogeshwar Dutt left wrestling because he saw a lot of potential in you.

Bajrang: He has taken a break from wrestling after Rio Olympics. He hasn't retired. Currently, he is not fit to wrestle. When he will be fit, he will try in 70-kg category. He asked me to wrestle in 65-kg category.

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Asian Games 2018: J&K Guv hails Bhanu for bronze in Wushu, Kin proud

Family members of Surya Bhanu Pratap Singh celebrated their son's feat at their residence in Jammu.

Asian Games 2018 : Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik today extended warm felicitations to son of the soil Surya Bhanu Pratap Singh for winning bronze medal in Wushu at the ongoing Asian Games in Jakarta.

Bhanu Pratap Singh, a resident of Muthi in Jammu, registered an emphatic quarterfinal victory over his Philippines rival in the men's 60-kg category on Tuesday in Indonesia. But he lost the semi-final bout against Erfan Ahangarian of Iran yesterday after suffering an injury.

"We are really proud of his performance in the prestigious sporting event," Governor said in his felicitation message.

Governor also congratulated Kuldeep Handoo, another son of the soil and coach of the Indian Wushu contingent at the Asian Games.

Family members of Surya Bhanu Pratap Singh celebrated their son's feat at their residence in Jammu.

Bhanu's parents acknowledged the effort that went into their son's achievement and said "We're happy and proud. He had struggled a lot and it's his hard work that has paid off. His coach had also put in a lot of effort."

Wushu, a Chinese Kung-fu, is different from other combat sports as it is a mix of kick-boxing and wrestling.

Meanwhile, K Vijay Kumar, Advisor to Governor, has also felicitated Bhanu for the emphatic victory.

Advisor Kumar said Bhanu Pratap Singh would be adequately rewarded by the Governor's Administration on his return from Jakarta for his splendid performance in the Asian Games.

He said the administration is laying renewed focus on promoting sports in the state and in this regard a new Sports Policy is being formulated to institutionalize the sports culture in J&K.

He said various incentives are being proposed to encourage grooming of professional sportspersons in the state.

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