Avinash Sable shattered his own 3000m steeplechase national record but failed to qualify for the final while sprinter Dutee Chand produced a below-par performance to make an exit on Friday.
M P Jabir also brought up the rear in men’s 400m hurdles while the mixed 4x400m relay team finished eighth and last in the second heat race as the Indians made a disappointing start to their athletics campaign.
The 26-year-old Sable failed to qualify for the final despite clocking a better time than the top three in another heat race.
He clocked 8:18.12 seconds in heat number 2 to finish seventh and better his earlier national record of 8:20.20 that he had set during the Federation Cup in March.
But he was unlucky to miss the finals cut as only the top-three finishers from each heat gain automatic entry. The top-three from heat number 3 ran in slower time than him.
Fifteen athletes — the best three in each of the three heats and the next six fastest athletes across all the qualifying heats — qualify for the final.
Sable ended seventh next best across all the qualifying heats and 13th overall.
Dutee was nowhere near her best as she clocked 11.54 seconds in 100m, well outside her national record of 11.17 seconds — also her season’s best — to finish seventh in heat 5 and 45th overall out of 54 competitors.
Jabir was disappointing as he ended seventh and last in heat number 5, clocking 50.77 seconds for an overall 33rd position out of 36 competitors.
In the evening session, the Indian quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Ravathi Veeramani, Subha Venkatesan and Rajiv Arokia clocked season’s best timing of 3:19.93 but it was good enough for a bottom-place finish in heat number 2. The Indian team finished 13th and last overall.
vishnu finish 3rd
Enoshima: Already out of the medal contention, Indian sailor Vishnu Saravanan finished a commendable third in one of the two laser event races that saw him move up three places to 20th position overall at the Olympics here.
After finishing third in the race number nine, Saravanan, however, ended at 15th in the next to remain at 20th overall out of 35 sailors in the laser event with 156 net points.
Only the medal race remains in the competition at Enoshima Yacht Harbour.
In the men’s skiff 49er, the Indian pair of KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar finished 17th, 11th and 16th in three races to still occupy overall 17th spot out of 19 competitors with 116 net points.
Three races and medal round still remain in the competition.
Nethra Kumanan continued her disappointing form as she dropped four places to 35th with 251 net points out of 44 sailors in the women’s laser radial after finishing 37th and 38th in the ninth and tenth races.