Asian Games Top Contenders in Athletics - Who to Watch in Sprints and Hurdles?

>> August 19, 2018

During the last edition in 2014, only 5 nations have won at least 3 gold medals in athletics, China (15 golds), Bahrain (9), Qatar (6), Japan (3), and Kazakhstan (3). India, Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia won 2 golds each. The six-day athletics event of the 18th Asian Games will begin on the 25th August at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta. More than 750 athletes will feature in track and field event. Here is a review for sprints, hurdles, and relays.

SPRINTS
Su Bingtian is the clear favorite in the men's 100m and Wei Yongli in the women's 100m. Bingtian has 4 sub-10s in the 100m including two 9.91s this year. Zie Zhenye injured his ankle, and Barakat Al-Harthi is now the next medal contender along with the Japanese sprinters. Wei Yongli became the 3rd Asian woman to run sub 11s with 10.99 recently, half of a second faster than her winning time in the last Asian Games. Defending champion Femi Ogunode of Qatar is not taking part in this edition, but his compatriot Abdalellah has a world-class time of 44.07 in the men's 400m and should be able to win easily. For women's 400m, a 51s should easily earn a gold medal in any Asian track event, but that was pre-2018, who else can stop Salwa Eid Naser a 49.08 sprinter to win the women's quarter-mile event? I predict the following times to win gold medals:  men's 100m 9.9s, 200m 20.2s, 400m 44.3s, and women's 100m 11.1s, 200m, 22.8s, 400m 49.6s. SEA athletes to watch: Lalu Zohri (PB/SB 10.18) and Khairul Hafiz Jantan (PB/SB 10.18/10.18); one of these young sprinters is expected to be in the finals; Lalu was at his peak performance during the recent World juniors where he won gold medal, and Hafiz is gearing to achieve his best in the games, clocking 10.28 last month. Current best performers and rankings:

Men's 100m
9.91 Su Bingtian CHN, Madrid
9.97 Xie Zhenye CHN, Montreuil
9.97 Barakat Al-Harthi OMA, Amman
10.03 Abdullah Abkar Mohammed KSA, Paris
10.03 Hassan Taftian IRI, Paris
10.05 Ryota Yamagata JPN, Yamaguchi
10.10 Yoshihide Kiryu JPN, Bellinzona

Men' 200m
20.16 Xie Zhenye CHN, Osaka
20.29 Yuki Koike JPN, Kortrijk
20.33 Yang Chun Han TPE, Taoyuan
20.34 Shota Izuka JPN, Yamaguchi
20.39 Bie Ge CHN, Claremont
20.40 Park Tae-Kyong KOR, Jeongseon

Men's 400m
44.07 Abdalellah Haroun QAT, London
44.62 Abderrahman Samba QAT, London
45.15 Mohammad Nasser Abbas QAT, Madrid
45.24 Muhammad Anas IND, Nove Mesto
45.50 Mikhail Litvin KAZ, Almaty

Women's 100m
10.99 Wei Yongli CHN, La Chaux de Fonds (defending champion)
11.17 Hajr Saad Al-Khaldi BRN, Amman
11.20 Viktoriya Zyabkina KAZ, Almaty
11.29 Dutee Chand IND, Guwahati
... 11.42 Chisato Fukushima JPN, Hiroshima

Women's 200m
22.73 Viktoriya Zyabkina KAZ, Almaty
22.81 Ofonime Odiong BN, Eugene
22.92 Kong Lingwei CHN, Huaian
22.97 Wei Yongli CHN, Madrid
23.10 Hima Das IND, Guwayati

Women's 400m
49.08 Salwa Eid Naser BRN, Monaco
51.13 Hima Das IND, Guwayati
51.25 Nirmala Sheoran IND, Guwayati
Pre-race favorite Wei Yongli of China has run 10.99s this year

RELAYS
Japan and China (sub 38s teams) will be the main contenders for men's 4x100m. Japan won silver in 2016 Olympics and bronze at 2017 World championships. China won bronze in the 2015 World championships, 4th in 2016 Olympics. Qatar is the clear favorite for men's 4x400m based on individual performance this year, so do with Bahrain in women's 4x400m. Winning times will be very fast in the men's 4x100m (sub 38s - I pick Japan) and 4x400m (sub 3:00s; at least 3:00 - I pick Qatar).

Men's 4x100m
37.85 Japan, Osaka
38.72 China, Osaka (defending champion)
39.07 Indonesia, Jakarta
39.08 Sri Lanka, Gold Coast
39.29 Chinese Taipei, Taipei
39.37 Malaysia, Gold Coast
39.44 Hong Kong, Taipei

Men's 4x400m
3:04.05 India, Gold Coast
... Qatar
... Japan (defending champion)
... China

Women's 4x100m
42.59 China, London (defending champion)
44.11 Japan, Osaka
... Thailand
... Kazakhstan

Women's 4x400m
3:33.23 India, Klando (defending champion)
3:35.12 Japan, Sapporo
3:37.25 China, Osaka
... Vietnam
... Japan

HURDLES
Abderrahman Samba who became the only second man to run the 400mh in less than 47s has announced that he would be gunning for the gold medal in the Asiad, and his presence will automatically raise the standard of Asian Games' winning time by at least 2 seconds. Defending champions Xie Wenjun, Wu Shuijiao, and Kemi Adekoya aims to defend their titles. Historical statistics seem suggests that China will likely defend its gold medal in the men's 110mh. Predicted gold medal times: men's 110mh 13.3s, 400mh 47.2s; and women's 100mh 12.8s, 400mh 55.0s. Current best performers and rankings:

Men's 110m hurdles
13.36 Ahmad Al-Moualed KSA, Praha
13.36 Taio Kanani JPN, Yamaguchi
13.45 Shunya Takayama JPN, Yamaguchi
13.49 Chen Kuei Ju TPE, Osaka
13.53 Xie Wenjun CHN, Paris (defending champion)

Men's 400m hurdles
46.98 Abderrahman Samba QAT, Paris (World Leader)
48.97 Takotoshi Abe JPN, Osaka
49.30 Takayuki Kishimoto JPN, Yamaguchi
49.45 Ayyasamu Dharun IND, Patiala
... 50.19 Eric Cray PHI, Osaka

Women's 100m hurdles
13.08 Wu Shuijiao CHN, Shanghai (defending champion)
13.13 Jung Hye Lim KOR, Osaka
13.13 Ayako Kimura JPN, Yamaguchi
13.17 Hitomi Aoki JPN, Yamaguchi

Women's 400m hurdles
55.45 Kemi Adekoya BRN, Szczechin (defending champion)
55.54 Aminat Yusuf Jamal BRN, Goleniow
57.02 Jauna Murmu IND, Guwayati
57.03 Quach Thi Lan VIE, Taipei
57.29 Huang Yan CHN, Huaian

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