Competing in front of a home crowd in the Indian city Bhubaneswar, Kaur achieved a throw of 18.28 metres to clinch gold.

She finished clear of defending champion Guo Tianqian of China, who claimed the silver medal with an effort of 17.91m.

Japan’s Aya Ota completed the podium, having thrown 15.45m.

G Lakshmanan secured India’s second gold medal of the opening day of competition, winning the men’s 5,000m in 14min 54.48sec.

He was followed across the line by Qatar’s Yaser Salem and Saudi Arabia’s Tariq Ahmed, who finished in 14:55.89 and 14:56.83 respectively.

China also ended the day with two gold medals, with Ding Bangchao winning the men’s pole vault with a clearance of 5.65m,

He was matched by Ejima Masaki, but the Japanese athlete was forced to settle for silver after taking more attempts to clear the height than his rival.

John Obiena Ernest of the Philippines earned the bronze medal, after he managed 5.50m.

Li Lingwei delivered China’s second gold, achieving a Championship record distance of 63.06m in the women’s javelin.

Sri Lanka’s Dilhani Lekamage and India’s Annu Rani rounded off the medal places, having thrown 58.11m and 57.32m.

There was victory for Vietnam’s Bui Thi Thu in the women’s long jump competition, despite having fouled on six of her eight jumps.

A distance of 6.54m would see her secure the title, narrowly beating India’s Neena V, who managed the same distance.

India’s Nayana James rounded off the podium, achieving a jump of 6.42m.

The event has added significance as all the gold medallists will secure an automatic place for next month’s International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships in London.

Over 650 of the continent's athletes from 44 countries are competing at the event, with 42 track and field competitions taking place.

India is hosting the event for a third time having also done so in 1989 in New Delhi and 2013 in Pune.

Competition will continue tomorrow.