Tintu Luka in Asian athletics' 800m final

Bhubaneswar, July 8: Defending 800m champion Tintu Luka led the charge as almost all the Indians who competed in the third-morning session qualified for the final rounds at the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships here on Saturday (July 8).

Luka overcame a mild stutter on the back straight in the second lap to win the second heat in 2:6.66 seconds and emerge the fastest qualifier.

Her team-mates Lili Das (2:07.24) and Archana Adhav (2:09.42) also made it to the half-mile final without much trouble.

In men's 800m, Jinson Johnson won the opening heat in 1:50.48 to be among the favourites in the medal race while Vishwambar Kolekar won the third heat to also make it to the final.

India's US-based Siddhanth Thingalaya qualified as one of the two fastest losers in men's 110m hurdles, clocking 13.72 seconds to finish third in the second heat.

Ankit Sharma (7.42m), S Samsheer (7.42m) and Siddharth Mohan Naik (7.39m) made it to the final of men's long jump.

PTI