Bahadur Singh won the first gold for India as the hosts swept all the honours in shot put in the first leg of the Asian Grand Prix Athletic meet in Hydrabad on Saturday. But India's women athletes disappointed. Olympic semi-finalist KM Beenamol was outsmarted by Sri Lanka's Damyanti Darsha in 400m while K M Binu was beaten at the post by Korean Lee Jae-Hoon.
In the absence of Shakti Singh, Bahadur made most of a weak field as he hurled the iron to a distance of 19.32 metres, finishing ahead of compatriots Navpreet Singh (19.05) and Kuldeep Man (18.05).
Sivanand clocked 8:16:83 in 3000m and finished ahead of Eduardo Buenavista of Philippines (8:19.62) and compatriot Arun D'Souza (8:32.79).
In women's 400m, Damyanti overtook Beenamol early and sustained the lead till the last lap to clock 51.87 sec. Beenamol clocked 51.96. Alena Petrova bagged bronze.
Bureau Report