Ancy Sojan wins long-jump silver and hopes for call from Vijay

Indian long jumper Ancy Sojan won her second successive Asian Games silver medal after China’s Huang Yingying produced a 6.55-metre final jump to take gold. Sojan had led much of the competition and recorded 6.53 metres in her second attempt. Huang moved ahead with her final effort, leaving Sojan two centimetres short of the title.

Sojan responded with a 6.49-metre final jump but could not reclaim the lead. After the competition, she said she hoped to receive a call from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, popularly known as actor Thalapathy Vijay.

“I wish I can get a call from him,” Sojan said, adding that she admired his motivational side and would be happy if he contacted her. The medal extended Sojan’s record at the Asian Games. After her silver in Hangzhou, she became only the second Indian woman after Anju Bobby George to win multiple Asian Games medals in the long jump.

Sojan’s admiration for Vijay predates the Asian Games. She had previously recreated his signature victory pose after winning the women’s long jump at the Indian Athletics Championships in New Delhi. India’s Shaili Singh finished fourth in the same event.

She was in the medal positions before China’s Tan Mengyi jumped 6.46 metres with the final effort, leaving Singh fourth with 6.42 metres. Sojan’s result added to a strong year for the athlete, while the narrow defeat left her with the disappointment of missing a gold that had appeared within reach for much of the final.