Aichi-Nagoya [Japan], September 26 (ANI): Indian sprinter Animesh Kujur advanced to the men’s 200m semifinals at the Asian Games 2026 after winning his heat on Saturday.
Kujur clocked 21.10 seconds to finish first in his heat and secure his place in the semifinal round.
The Indian athlete produced a strong performance in the heats to comfortably progress to the next stage of the competition.
Kujur is among India’s key sprinting hopes at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games and will look to continue his run in the semifinals as he aims for a place in the medal race.
Meanwhile, India’s Sawan Barwal scripted history by winning the silver medal in the men’s marathon with a national record time of 2:11:37.
In shooting, Ashi Chouksey, Tilottama Sen and Vidarsa Vinod secured the silver medal in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions team event. Tilottama finished third with 590 points and Vidarsa sixth with 588 points to qualify for the individual final.
In archery, India finished second in the women’s compound team qualification event. Chikitha Taniparthi (705), Jyothi Surekha Vennam (699) and Prithika Pradeep (695) combined for a score of 2099.
In athletics, Tejaswin Shankar and Thowfeeq Noushad finished fifth and seventh respectively in the men’s decathlon 100m event. Later, Tejaswin topped the decathlon long jump with 7.53m, while Thowfeeq finished third with 7.37m. Tejaswin stood second overall with 1807 points, while Thowfeeq was fourth with 1759 points.
In canoe sprint, Harshwardhan Shaktawat advanced to Final B after finishing fifth in the men’s kayak single 500m semifinal. Parvathy Geetha and Prasanna Kumar qualified for Final A after finishing second in the mixed kayak double 500m semifinal. Raju Rawat and Neha Devi Leichonbam finished eighth in the mixed canoe double 500m final.
India’s fencing teams had mixed results, with the women’s foil team defeating Indonesia 45-24 to reach the quarter-finals. The men’s sabre team beat Philippines 45-27 in the round of 16 but later lost 25-45 to South Korea in the quarter-finals.
In badminton, Lakshya Sen exited the men’s singles competition after losing to Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew 12-21, 21-15, 14-21 in the second round.
In table tennis, Yashaswini Ghorpade lost to Japan’s Miwa Harimoto in the women’s singles round 3, while in esports, Paritosh suffered a 0-5 defeat against Dongshin Kang in the Puyo Puyo Champions quarter-final. (ANI)
Asian Games 2026: Animesh Kujur advances to 200m semifinals with 21.10s heat win
