Hima Das is outstanding, just wait two years, says coach Bahadur Singh

09/05/2018

Heaping praise on the athletics team for their amazing performance at Asian Games in Jakarta, coach Bahadur Singh has cherrypicked Hima Das to have the capability of becoming world no.1 in two years time. The Indian athlete returned with three medals, including one gold in the relay event.

The likes of Hima Das, Swapna Barman and Manjit Singh secured remarkable victories in the Asian Games 2018 as India's athletics contingent returned with as many as 19 medals from the Asiad. The ecstatic coach was proud of the players and has touted star sprinter Hima to reach the top in a couple years.

“Athletics is a measurable sport. People who perform at the World Championships and Olympics have six to eight years of work behind them. They don’t miss a single training session. They only take active rest. The training continues. Hima Das is outstanding. Just wait two years,” said Bahadur.

Hima broke into the scene by clinching a gold at the IAAF World U20 Championships and extended her form in the Asian Games as well. When asked about the next step, Hima stated that she is looking forward to improving herself and performing better, rather than focusing on medals.

“I am only looking for better times, not medals, whether it is the National championships or the Olympics,” Hima said.

As for Swapna Barman, the heptathlete told that she was successful in fulfilling her target of crossing 6000 points in order to claim the gold. Her mother got very emotional on her daughter's achievement in the quadrennial event. Manjit Singh, who won the gold medal in the 800m event mentioned that he was on only focusing on giving his best.

“The target was to run my best. The pressure was on Johnson as he was the favourite. Johnson won 1500 and so everybody is happy,” said Manjit Singh.

Tajinderpal Toor created a Games record after his staggering throw of 20.75m, leading Bahadur Singh to appeal all the state governments of India to give bountiful rewards to the achievers in order to inspire other players. Coach Radhakrishnan Nair also commented on the amazing form of Indian athletes.

“The focus now is the Olympics. We can win at least three medals there,” Nair said.