HANGZHOU: Indian athlete Mohammed Afsal Pulikkalath bagged a silver medal in the men's 800m final in the Asian Games on Tuesday.

Afsal had a shot at the gold and he was inches away from finishing first but Saudi Arabia's Essa Ali Kzwani went past the Indian runner towards the end.

Afsal clocked 1:48.43s to claim the silver. The Saudi Arabian athlete surpassed him by 0.39s as he finished with a timing of 1:48.05s.

The bronze medal was claimed by Oman's Husain Mohsin Husain who clocked 1:48.51s.

Krishan Kumar was the other Indian who participated in the race but got disqualified.

Earlier in the day, Indian runner Parul Chaudhary etched her name in the history book by winning a gold medal in the Women’s 5000m.

Returning to the field after bagging a silver medal in the women’s 3000-metre steeplechase on Monday, Parul finished with a timing of 15:14.75 for the gold medal. She became the first Indian to win gold in the women's 5000m event at the Asian Games.