India will have two representatives in the men’s 200m final at the inaugural Asian U23 Athletics Championships after Abhay Singh and Gokul Pandiyan successfully progressed through their respective heats in Ordos, China.
Abhay Singh produced an impressive run to finish second in Heat 2, clocking 21.11 seconds to qualify automatically for the final. Gokul Pandiyan also secured his place in the medal race, finishing third in Heat 1 with a time of 21.51 seconds.
China’s Youwen Huang emerged as the fastest qualifier after recording 20.84 seconds, while Japan’s Kota Uematsu posted the second-fastest time of 20.98 seconds. They were the only two athletes to break the 21-second barrier during the heats.
With two sprinters in the final, India will look to challenge for a podium finish when the men’s 200m final gets underway at 6:35 PM IST.