By IANS
Bangkok : Indian athletes put up a splendid show to bag three gold medals and to add to their tally of 12 in the first leg of the 2007 Asian Athletics Grand Prix here Tuesday.
India faced 1-2 in men's 3,000 meters with Sunil Kumar winning the gold while Sinimol Paulose came up well clear of the field in the women's 1,500m. Renjith Maheshwary upset several names to prevail in men's triple jump to bring a third gold for India.
Sunil bettered his personal best as he came home in 8:00.76 seconds, just ahead of compatriot Surendra Singh who also gave his best ever performance 8:00.86secs.
Paulose was in fine form as she clocked 4:12.61secs to finish way ahead of Kazakhstan's Svetlana Lukasheva, who could not match the Indian despite her season's best of 4:20.98s. Sushma brought another medal for India finishing third in 4:25.51s.
Maheshwary was expected to face severe competition in one of the toughest line-ups in men's triple jump but showed his mettle clearing a distance of 16.68m in his second jump, which was too good for other competitors.
Roman Valiyev of Kazakhstan claimed the silver at 16.45m ahead of Syria's Mohamad Al Hazoury (16.37m). India's Amarjeet Singh had his season's best effort of 16.24m to finish fifth.