Last night amidst the wild and chest thumping jubilations of fans of Hima both at Jakarta and at home, saw the birth of a great duel in sporting history of Asia. That duel is between Salw Eid Nases of Bahrain and Hima Das.
Both are World Youth Champions in the 400 m and it was certain from yesterday's result that both are going to shadow each others like Usain Bolt vs Yohan Blake. However it was abundantly clear that Salwa is too good for Hima and in fact had she pressed hard. Salwa would have sliced off more of her time.
Salwa is a great runner and she is technically ahead of Hima Das and it was quite evident way she ran last night. But for Hima, who had made sensation in the country by rising out nowhere as late as 2016, this could be a vitamin she was looking to enhance her speed. Because in athletics you excel only when you have a tougher opponent and Salwa is her nemesis.
Salwa ran slow in Jakarta then her normal as she was running regular at 49.18 secs this year he best was 49.09 secs. In that comparison to that she was almost a second slower last night, which allowed Hima to minimize the gape.
With Salwa sure to dominate Asian tracks, it will be much more tougher work for Hima. She is expected t return home for a triumphant home coming but after that she has to go back to Patiala and concentrate hard for Tokyo Olympics, where things are much more tougher as the Olympic level most of the top runner are running below 50 secs and Hima has to slice off at least 2 secs to be a serious contender for a podium finish.
