Manpreet Kaur wins shot put gold at Asian Grand Prix, leads world rankings

Manpreet Kaur wins shot put gold at Asian Grand Prix, leads world rankings

Shot putter Manpreet Kaur’s outstanding performance(शानदार प्रदर्शन)  in the first leg of the Asian Grand Prix in Jinhua, China, helped her take No 1 spot in the world rankings. On Monday, Manpreet’s gold medal winning performance of 18.86m turned out to be a world leading throw. She pushed Olympic champion Michelle Carter of USA to second spot, whose best throw this season was 18.54m recorded on April 15, in Austin. The national champion in fact set the right rhythm for the Indian camp, which overall won seven medals including four silver and two bronze. Manpreet’s previous best 17.96m was set in 2015 during Open National meet in Kolkata. She though had qualified for Rio Olympics, but wasn’t able to repeat her personal best. Her best throw in Rio Games was 17.06m and she overall finished 23rd. Only top 12 enter the final. India’s world junior champion in javelin throw Neeraj Chopra was among five athletes to win silver. His best throw was 82.11m, far off from his personal best of 86.48m, which he set last year. 

India also bagged two silver medals in the two-lap race, with Tintu Lukka clocking 2:03.59 secs in the women’s event, while Jinson Johnson time was 1:50.71 secs. Long jumper Neena Varakil also claimed silver with a jump of 6.46m. The national record holder in 100m sprint Dutee Chand clocked 11.59 secs, to win bronze for the team.

Shot putter Om Prakash had to settle for bronze with a distance of 18.41m.