Eldhose Paul led India's historic 1-2 finish in men's triple jump at the Commonwealth Games as he won a rare gold medal in track and field events and was followed by fellow Kerala athlete Abdulla Aboobacker in Birmingham on Sunday.
Jobless Manjit pipped pre-race favourite and national record holder Jinson Johson to take the gold in 1:46.15
Neeraj Chopra will have the weight of expectations on him when he begins his World Athletics Championship campaign on Thursday.
A summary of Indian athletes showing on Friday, Day 8 of the Commonwealth Games.
Indian relay teams made their mark at the Asian Games, clinching gold and silver medals.
'These youngsters have proved there is money in sports today, not just cricket!' 'They are youth icons and people look up to them.' 'Our athletes are not scared. Like a child knows no fear, they are youngsters without fear.'
Check out the complete schedule of Indian athletes at the Tokyo Olympics
Four 20km race walkers -- two men and two women -- have already been named from the separate national championships held in New Delhi in February.
The 24-year-old Punjab athlete clocked 1 hour 36 minute and 41 seconds, more than two minutes outside her season best of 1 hour 34 minute and one second, to finish 42nd out of 52 competitors who finished the race.
Tokyo should remain the benchmark and source of inspiration till at least Paris 2024. In the shorter run, India's preparations for the Asian and Commonwealth Games next year must begin based on lessons learnt now, asserts Raj Kishore Mishra, former joint secretary at the sports ministry.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
For a discipline that has given Indian athletes only the Olympian's tag, the country's track and field participants will begin their campaign in the Rio Olympics on Thursday, with little hope to break the 116-year-old medal jinx.
