01 October,2014 08:09 AM IST | | V Krishnaswamy
Discus thrower Vikas fails to beat his Iranian nemesis Ehsan again; settles for silver
India's Vikas Gowda competes in the final of discus throw in Incheon yesterday. Pic/AFP
Incheon: Vikas Gowda, winner of the gold medals at the Asian Championships in Pune in 2013 and the Commonwealth Games this July, was unable to complete a hat-trick of discus gold medals, as he was once again thwarted by his old nemesis, Ehsan Hadadi of Iran, at the Asian Games here yesterday.
India's Vikas Gowda competes in the final of discus throw in Incheon yesterday. Pic/AFP
Gowda, who was relegated to silver at the Guangzhou Asian Games by Hadadi, was once again pushed to the second spot, as he has been on numerous other occasions.
Hat-trick for Hadadi
Olympic silver medallist Hadadi, who has won the Asian Championships four times, also completed a hat-trick of Asian Games gold medals in discus.
His wins in Asian Championships have often come at the expense of Gowda, as in 2005 (where Gowda was second), 2007 (where Gowda was fourth), 2009 (Gowda did not take part) and 2011 (where Gowda was again second).
"I have competed enough against Ehsan and I know what I am up against. I knew very much that I needed to get past 65 metres to have a chance. I think I did that on my fifth throw, but it turned out to be a foul by a very thin margin as my foot just went over," said Gowda, the nearly six-foot-eight inch son of former coach, Shive Gowda, who was present in the stands to see him win a second medal this year.
Iran's Ehsan Hadadi celebrates his win yesterday. Pic/AFP
Gowda, who shifted his base to United States almost a decade ago, threw his best (62.58m) on the second throw but fouled his last three attempts while trying to catch up Hadadi, whose best of 65.11m also came on the second throw. Hadadi underlined his consistency with throws of 64.89m, 63.77m and 64.47m in his last three attempts.
I was impatient: Gowda
"Normally I don't foul as much, but except in the fifth throw, where I was patient and gave myself time to complete my turn, I was impatient on my other throws," said Gowda, who also revealed that he had an injury scare two weeks ago.
"I was unable to train in the run-up, though I had a good workout on Monday. I had to re-schedule my arrival into Incheon from US after the injury," he added. Qatar's Mohammed Ahmed Dheeb clinched bronze with a best throw of 61.25m.
