The Japanese are the kings of distance running in Asia. They are so strong that they occupy 98 of the top 100 rungs in this year’s men’s 10,000m Asian list.
But Abhishek Pal, who is in the 189th spot in the list and who could not win gold in the 10,000m in the recent Federation Cup and the Inter-State Nationals, came up with some fine end-game heroics to outwit Japan’s Yuto Imae and take the 10,000m bronze at the 25th Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok on Wednesday.
It was India’s first medal at this Asians and Abhishek’s first major international medal. Federation Cup champion Gulveer Singh, who had beaten Abhishek twice this season, finished fifth in the event where Japan’s Asian leader Ren Tazawa came with a fine piece of front running to take the gold.
