Indian athletes enjoyed a decent outing on the opening day of track and field events at the Commonwealth Games, with Tejinder Singh advancing to the shot put finals and Muhammed Anas Yahiya entering the men's 400m semi-final at Australia’s Gold Coast.
Singh made the final with a sixth-place finish in the qualifying round on Sunday, 8 April.
Placed in qualifying Group A, the reigning national champion managed a distance of 19.10m in his final attempt of the day after throws of 18.49m and 18.43m.
Tejinder, who came into the games after claiming a silver at the Asian Indoor Championships in Tehran in February, would be in action in the finals on Monday, 9 April.
New Zealand's Tomas Walsh topped the qualifying with a new games record of 22.45m, followed by Nigeria's Chukwuebuka Enekechi (20.66m).
More good news followed with Yahiya topping his 400m heat with a timing of 45.96 to enter the semifinals, also scheduled for Monday.
Earlier in the morning, race walkers Khushbir Kaur and Manish Singh finished creditable fourth and sixth respectively in the 20km race where the Commonwealth Games record was shattered by Australian Dane Bird-Smith in the men's race.
Khushbir managed a timing of 1:39:21, which was 6:31 seconds behind gold-winner Jemima Montag. Manish, whose work profile includes being a farm labourer, a waiter and tourist guide, among others, clocked 1:22:22 to sign off sixth in his debut appearance at the Commonwealth Games.
The 26-year-old Indian, who managed a 13th place finish at the 2016 Rio Olympics, was cautioned with a yellow card during the race for breaching the international rules on "improper conduct" after he did not respond to the call-up. The caution was given to him by the call referee.
The gold in the men's race walking final was claimed by Rio Olympics bronze-medallist Bird-Smith, who broke the Games record. Bird-Smith clocked 1:19:34, beating the record of 1:22:18 set by compatriot Jarrad Tallent in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games.
However, India's national record holder KT Irfan finished 13th in the event with a timing of 1:27:34, while in the women's race Soumya Baby was disqualified at the 6-km mark for three successive loss of contact violations.
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