Paramjeet Singh Bisht and Vikas Singh
– Photo: Social Media
Expansion
India’s 20 km walkers Vikas Singh and Paramjit Singh Bisht on Sunday qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2023 World Championships by finishing second and third in the Asian Championships. Vikas and Paramjeet clocked 1:20:05 (1:20:05) and 1:20:08 to finish second and third respectively in the men’s section of the Asian 20 km race walk championships.
Qian Haifeng of China (1:19:09) took the first place. The qualifying mark for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and the World Athletics Championships to be held in Budapest, Hungary in August this year is 1:20:10 and both the Indian players achieved it by a narrow margin.
Akshdeep Singh, who qualified for the Olympics and the World Athletics Championships by winning the national championships last month, clocked 1:20:57 to finish fifth. According to the rules of the competition, a country can send players in the open category in addition to the official entries, but their performance will not be considered official. India had sent four male and three female players in the open category. In the men’s section, two other Indians Suraj Panwar and Hardeep clocked 1:22:31 and 1:25:38 respectively.
Priyanka wins bronze, Munita, Bhavna miss the cut
In the women’s section, Priyanka Goswami, who had qualified for the Olympics and World Championships by winning the national championship last month, clocked 1:32:27 in the official entry category for women. She finished fourth overall. India’s Munita Prajapati and Bhawna Jat clocked 1:33:22 and 1:36:20 respectively in the open category, missing the Olympic and World Championships qualifying marks of 1:29:20 by a wide margin.
