Asian Games: Pooja wins India’s first high jump bronze medal after 24 years
Nagoya, Sep 29 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) India’s national record-holder Pooja won the bronze medal in the women’s high jump at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, on Tuesday, after Sarvesh Kushare and Parul Chaudhary added a silver and bronze, respectively, to India’s athletics medal haul.
Pooja cleared a best of 1.84m to finish third in the women’s high jump final. Uzbekistan’s Sayfullaeva won gold with a personal best of 1.90m, while Kazakhstan’s Kristina Ovchinnikova took silver after clearing 1.87m.
19-year-old Pooja had been in the lead after clearing 1.84m but was unable to negotiate 1.87m in three attempts and had to settle for bronze.
The medal adds to a breakthrough year for Pooja, who earlier broke Sahana Kumari’s 14-year-old national record with a 1.93m clearance at the Asian Under-20 Athletics Championships.
Pooja’s bronze was India’s first medal in the women’s high jump at the Asian Games since Bobby Aloysius won silver in 2002.
Earlier, Sarvesh Kushare clinched the silver medal in the men’s high jump on Monday.
Kushare finished on the podium with a best jump of 2.25m, matching gold medallist Chao Hsuan-Fu of Chinese Taipei. However, Chao cleared the height in his first attempt, while Sarvesh needed two attempts. Republic of Korea’s Sanghyeok Woo won the bronze medal with a jump of 2.22m.
Sarvesh began the competition strongly, clearing 2.10m in his first attempt. He maintained his momentum by clearing 2.14m, 2.18m and 2.22m on his first attempts, keeping himself in the top positions for a long period.
Chao, who needed two attempts to clear 2.18m, then produced his season-best performance by clearing 2.25m on his first attempt to move into the lead.
With both athletes clearing 2.25m, the contest went down to 2.28m. However, neither athlete could clear the height despite three attempts, allowing Chao to finish on top and claim the gold, while Kushare settled for silver.
–
