Asian Games: Man Singh finishes eighth; Belliappa Appachangada twelfth in men’s marathon

Man Singh and Belliappa Appachangada Bopaiah finished eighth and 12th, respectively, in the men's marathon

Hangzhou: India’s Man Singh and Belliappa Appachangada Bopaiah finished eighth and 12th, respectively, in the men’s marathon at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou on Thursday.

At the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi, India won its last medal in the marathon competition. In fact, all of India’s medals in marathons have come on the Indian routes.

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Hosur Kukkappa Seetharan won a bronze in 1982. Chota Singh’s gold medal and Surat Singh Matur’s bronze came at New Delhi in 1951.

At the iconic Qiantang River Green Belt route in Hangzhou, the 34-year-old Man Singh clocked two hours, 16 minutes and 59 seconds to finish nearly four minutes behind gold medallist Jie He of China.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s Ilryong Han (2:13:27) won silver and China’s Shaohui Yang (2:13:39) claimed the bronze medal. Belliappa Appachangada finished his race in 2:20:52.

Shivnath Singh’s national record of 2:12:00 was set at a marathon in 1978 in Jalandhar and is India’s longest-standing national record.

No Indian participated in the women’s marathon in Hangzhou.

The marathon was also the final event in athletics at the Asian Games 2023. India fetched a total of 29 medals in athletics at the 19th edition of the Asian Games which included six golds, 14 silvers and nine bronze.