<p class="title">Indian track and field athletes clinched four medals, including a gold, as they got off their campaign at the 2018 Asian Junior Championships to a strong start here on Thursday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ashish Jakhar was the star among the Indians on the opening day as he set a junior national record en route to winning a gold medal in the hammer throw event.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Jakhar, a gold medallist at the 2016 Asian Juniors, threw the 6kg iron ball and chain to a distance of 76.86m at the Gifu Nagaragawa Stadium to shatter the previous mark of 75.04m that he himself had set at the Junior Federation Cup in April.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He was joined on the podium by compatriot Damneet Singh who also managed a personal best of 74.08m to clinch the silver medal.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Priyadarshini Suresh and Poonam Sonune added to the tally with bronze medals in women's triple jump and women's 5000m races respectively.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Priyadarshini leapt a personal best of 13.08m. The gold went to Vietnam's VU Thi Ngoc Ha who cleared a distance of 13.22m while China's Youqi Pan was second with a best jump of 13.21m.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sonune, who had finished fourth at the Asian Youth Championships in 2016, timed 17:03.75 in the 5000m, finishing behind Japan's Mikuni Yada who clinched gold with a timing of 16:31.65s. China's Lihua Niu took the silver with a timing of 16:55.54 seconds.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Quartermiler Jisna Mathew qualified for the final in 54.78 seconds.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Also fastest across the heats in his event was Ajit Kumar who clocked 3:58.46 seconds in the men’s 1500m race.</p>
<p class="title">Indian track and field athletes clinched four medals, including a gold, as they got off their campaign at the 2018 Asian Junior Championships to a strong start here on Thursday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ashish Jakhar was the star among the Indians on the opening day as he set a junior national record en route to winning a gold medal in the hammer throw event.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Jakhar, a gold medallist at the 2016 Asian Juniors, threw the 6kg iron ball and chain to a distance of 76.86m at the Gifu Nagaragawa Stadium to shatter the previous mark of 75.04m that he himself had set at the Junior Federation Cup in April.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He was joined on the podium by compatriot Damneet Singh who also managed a personal best of 74.08m to clinch the silver medal.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Priyadarshini Suresh and Poonam Sonune added to the tally with bronze medals in women's triple jump and women's 5000m races respectively.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Priyadarshini leapt a personal best of 13.08m. The gold went to Vietnam's VU Thi Ngoc Ha who cleared a distance of 13.22m while China's Youqi Pan was second with a best jump of 13.21m.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sonune, who had finished fourth at the Asian Youth Championships in 2016, timed 17:03.75 in the 5000m, finishing behind Japan's Mikuni Yada who clinched gold with a timing of 16:31.65s. China's Lihua Niu took the silver with a timing of 16:55.54 seconds.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Quartermiler Jisna Mathew qualified for the final in 54.78 seconds.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Also fastest across the heats in his event was Ajit Kumar who clocked 3:58.46 seconds in the men’s 1500m race.</p>