Perseverance finally paid off for India's finest decathlete, P J Vinod. The 28-year-old won his first title at the continental level when struck gold in the men's heptathlon by scoring 5561 points in two-day gruelling event, on the last day of athletics competition at the second Asian Indoor Games in Macau on Thursday.

Vinod beat second-placed Dubitskiy Pavel of Kazakistan (5432 points) by more than a hundred points after completion of the 1000m run, the seventh event of heptathlon.

His performance card read: (60m: 7.02 secs; Long Jump: 7.18m, Shot Put: 13.86m, High Jump: 1.91m, 60m hurdles: 8.15s, Pole Vault: 4.50m, 1000m: 2:58.17s).

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