The Indian team suffered a major setback on Sunday as Assam-born junior world champion Hima Das suffered an injury to crash out of the 23rd Asian Athletics Championships under way at the Khalifa International Stadium at Doha in Qatar.
Reports stated that India’s medal hope Hima Das suffered a back pain and pulled out halfway through women’s 400m semi-finals.
Nineteen-year-old Hima Das who hails from a village near Dhing in Nagaon district of Assam hogged the limelight in 2018 as she won a 400m gold at the World U20 Championships at Tampere in Finland.
Also Read: Assam girl Hima Das ‘keyed up’ for Doha sporting event
Hima is currently also the national record holder with 50.79s clocked in the 2018 Asian Games.
This Asian Championships is crucial as the gold medallist gets the automatic qualification for the World Championships. This competition is also an ideal platform to accumulate ranking points if an athlete fails to achieve the stiff entry standards prescribed by the international federation.
Dutee Chand of India broke her own national record to qualify for the women’s 100m semi-finals on the first day of the event today.
She broke her own national record of 11.29s set in Guwahati last year.
Official statement on @HimaDas8
"She had spasm at L4 and L5. The Doctor who attended her said informed us and he said nothing serious. She will be OK within a day or two"- Radhakrishnan Nair, Deputy Chief Coach #India.#AAC2019 #AsianAthleticsPC- @rahuldpawar pic.twitter.com/Lvry9j4KT7
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) April 21, 2019