Rezoana Mallick Heena, the Asian under-18 400m champion in Uzbekistan in April, added the Asian under-20 championships gold to her growing collection at Yecheon, South Korea, on Sunday.
The 16-year-old, who is coached by Arjun Ajay in Bengaluru, beat Sri Lanka’s Dissanayaka Dilsara comfortably to win in 53.31s.
Rezoana’s personal best, 52.98s which came with her gold in Tashkent, makes her the fifth fastest woman quartermiler in Asia this year.
India won another gold through Bhartpreet Singh in men’s discus (55.66m), and the women’s 5000m bronze through Antima Pal.
Meanwhile, Abhinaya Rajarajan clocked 11.91s while finishing third in her women’s 100m heats and progressed to the final. Also qualifying for the final were Shyam Milan Bind and Shakeel in the men’s 800m.
Select results (gold medallists and Indian performances): Men: 400m: 1. Ismail Abakar (Qat) 46.17s. 3000m: 1. Nagashima Sonata (Jpn) 8:19.49s; Pole vault: 1. Seifeldin Mohamed (Qat) 5.50m. (Dev Meena (Ind) no mark); Discus: 1. Bhartpreet Singh (Ind) 55.66m.
Women: 400m: 1. Rezoana Mallick Heena (Ind) 53.31s; 5000m: 1. Yonesawa Nanaka (Jpn) 16:37.37s, 3. Antima Pal (Ind) 17:17.11s, 5. Bushra Khan Gauri (Ind) 18:15.98; Javelin: 1. Sakurai Nozomi (Jpn) 50.02m. Shot put: 1. Lin Jiaxin (Chn) 15.91m, 4. Vidhi (Ind) 15.16.
