Sudha Singh determined to strike gold at Asiad

New Delhi: In the absence of experienced Lalita Babar who is battling fitness woes, Olympian Sudha Singh is the country’s lone medal hope in the women’s 3,000 metre steeplechase at the upcoming Asian Games in Indonesia. The Uttar Pradesh athlete is “determined to shine” at the quadrennial event after failing to qualify for the Commonwealth Games.

The 32-year-old is at the training camp in Thimpu, Bhutan, to sharpen her skills and is determined to return with a gold medal from Jakarta.

“My aim is to win gold and nothing less. I am confident of my fitness,” Sudha said on Thursday.

It is not the first time that Sudha is training at high altitude but the thing that makes Thimpu more special is its synthetic track. Earlier, she used to train in Ooty with Babar and O.P. Jaisha but there was no synthetic tracks at the venue. “We are training as usual but the facilities here are world class. The place is 2,300ft above sea level and pollution free. That really helps us in building our core and be more sharp and agile.

“Here we have a synthetic track which I think will prove a boon in our quest for the gold at the Asiad. It will give us an extra edge that we were missing in Ooty,” the 2017 Asian Athletics Championship gold medallist said.

The former national record holder clocked 9.39.59 seconds to both defeat and blow off her own old meet record of 9:45.60 seconds set in 2013 to book her Asian Games berth at the national inter-state athletics championships in Guwahati on June 28. The Asian Games qualifying standard was 9:45.00. She finished more than 15 seconds clear of second place Chinta Yadav (9:55.41).

“I am confident of my performance at the Asian Games… just worried about the competition I will get from Bahrain athletes. They are strong contenders otherwise I don’t think there will be any tough competition there,” she said.

Sudha, who was under the tutelage of renowned Russian middle and long distance coach Dr Nikolai Snesarev earlier in Ooty, is now more “comfortable” to be trained under Surender Singh.

“Surender sir is a world class coach and a Olympian with vast experience. He has put us in the right direction and hopefully, our hard work pays. I will continue training here and will go directly to Jakarta,” she said.

Sudha also asserted that India have better medal chances in track and field events this time than 2014.

“Everyone is putting in their best effort and hopefully, we will return with better medal haul this time,” she said.

Former national coach Ashok Chaudhary threw his weight behind Sudha and believes that she can clinch a gold in Jakarta.

“Shudha is a strong contender to win gold this time. Her training and fitness is going great. The absence of Lalita put all the pressure on Sudha to deliver and I hope India have good chance in winning in the steeplchase this time,” said the coach.