Guangzhou, November 25
Hurdlers Joseph Abraham and Ashwini Chidananda provided a huge boost to the country's medal haul in the 16th Asian Games with their gold-winning feats while teen sensation Vikas Krishan bagged a boxing gold as India jumped to the eighth spot on an eventful 13th day of competitions here today. With the addition of seven more medals, India’s medal haul climbed to 10 gold, 14 silver and 29 bronze, as a result it climbed to the eighth spot on the medal rostrum.

Joseph and Ashwini raced to glory to give India a golden double in a single athletics event for the first time since 1978 Bangkok Asian Games when the country had won both 800m men’s and women’s gold medals.

Striding smoothly over the low hurdles, long-legged Ashwini stepped on the gas on the final straight to clinch the gold with a personal best of 56.15secs, clipping 0.28secs off her own previous high of 56.43 which she clocked in the qualifying heats. Ashwini's victory is significant as she had started concentrating on hurdles just recently.

Just a few minutes after Aswhini's triumph, the 29-year-old Joseph, hailing from Kottayam district in Kerala, made it a historic 400m hurdles golden double by edging past his other rivals in a very tight finish.

Vikas Krishan ended Indian boxing’s 12-year-old gold medal drought in the Asian Games by winning the lightweight (60kg) title but Dinesh Kumar (81kg) settled for the silver after losing in the finals here today. The 18-year-old Vikas stunned defending champion Qing Hu of China 5-4 in the lightweight 60kg final that was low on thrill as the Indian decided to play defensive. — PTI