Inderjeet finishes last in shot put finals, Baljinder 12th in race walk

Shot putter Inderjeet Singh finished last in the final round to end his maiden World Athletics Championships appearance in disappointment while Baljinder Singh took the 12th spot in the 20km race walk event on the second day of competitions here today.

Inderjeet, the reigning Asian champion, made it to the final round as one of the 12 best performers in the qualifying session in the morning with a best throw of 20.47m. He thus became the first Indian shot-putter to enter the final round of World Athletics Championships.

In the final round, however, he failed to rise up to the big occasion and finished last among 11 competitors as American Christian Cantwell did not turn up at the Bird’s Nest Stadium.

Inderjeet, who has a personal best of 20.65m, began the final round with 19.52m before fouling his second throw.

Pressure piled on him to come up with a big throw in his third attempt but the Indian, who also won a bronze medal in the Asian Games, could only come up with a disappointing 18.68m to end his campaign.

After three rounds, those ranked below top eight are eliminated and Inderjeet was among one of those who made the exit.

Earlier in the morning, Inderjeet qualified for the final round with a 20.47m throw in his third attempt. He began the ualifying round with a below par 19.15m effort in his first attempt before he fouled his second throw.

But he made his third and final attempt count as he heaved the iron ball to 20.47m to qualify for the final round as one of the 12 best performers in the qualification round.

In men’s 20km race walk, Baljinder Singh finished 12th out of 51 athletes, who completed the race, with a personal best time of 1:21:44. Two other Indians, Gurmeet Singh 1:25:22) and Chandan Singh (1:26:40) ended 36th and 42nd respectively.

European champion Miguel Angel Lopez won the race in a personal best time of 1:19:14 to become Spain’s first 20km race walk world champion since 1993.

Chinese Olympic bronze medallist Zhen Wang was second in 1:19:29, while Benjamin Thorne — the biggest surprise of the race — took bronze in a Canadian record of 1:19:57.

Japan’s world record holder Yusuke Suzuki dropped out just after 45 minutes into the race. Reigning Olympic champion Ding Chen of China was ninth with 1:21:39.