HANGZHOU: The best worked plans set by India's middle distance runner Mohammed Afsal (silver), hurdler Vithya Ramraj (bronze) and triple jumper Praveen Chitharavel (bronze) went haywire here as they were forced to stand a step down on the podium than they would have expected.
First up was Vithya as she lined up for the women's 400m hurdles final against Mujidat Adekoya of Bahrain. After keeping pace with the Bahrain athlete till about the halfway stage, the Tamil Nadu girl ran out of steam as she settled for a slower time than what she did in Monday's heats when she equalled PT Usha's national record of 55.42. Vithya had lined up two targets for the final -the Olympic qualification and the national record -but those will now have to be met in the new season.
