Discus thrower Seema Punia wins silver at Qosanov Memorial meet in Kazakhstan

NEW DELHI: Veteran Indian discus thrower Seema Punia clinched a silver medal at the Qosanov Memorial athletics meet in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Saturday.

The 39-year-old Seema, the 2014 Asian Games champion, hurled the disc to a distance of 57.35m to settle for the second position. This was her second competition of the season.

Subenrat Insaeng of Thailand won the gold medal with a throw of 59.67m. Local athlete Karina Vasilyeva took the bronze in a six-woman field with 47.70m.

Seema's mark was better than the Asian Games qualifying standard of 57m set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).

The AFI had made participation at the June 15-19 National Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar mandatory for selection in the Asian Games team. Seema had won gold there with a 56.50m throw.

Seema's personal best is 64.84m which she did long back in 2004.