Warangal, September 19: Two youngsters, Assam sprinter Amlan Borgohain and Tamil Nadu Triple Jumper Praveen Chithravel, shared the limelight with the experienced Rajasthan Hammer Thrower Manju Bala Singh as each of them climbed the podium with career best efforts on the final day of the 60th National Open Athletics Championships here on Sunday.
Amlan Borgohain clocked a sensational time of 20.75 seconds, the second fastest time on Indian soil, to win the men’s 200m final in great style. Only Muhammed Anas Yahia (20.63), Dharambir Singh (20.66), Arokia Rajiv (20.66) and Anil Kumar (20.73) have run a faster time over the distance in the history of Indian athletics.
The 23-year-old, who has lived in Hyderabad since 2014, was running his first 200m competition at the National level in 20 months, burst out of the blocks and sped ahead of the pack to break the beam in 20.75 seconds. It was not only the first time that Amlan Borgohain stopped the clock inside 21 seconds but also a New Meet Record.
The 20-year-old Praveen Chithravel, whose previous best of 16.51m came on March 16, 2019 and the best this year was 16.39m achieved in Patiala on March 19, nailed the Triple Jump gold medal with his opening try over 16.88m. He is now third on India’s top list in hop, step and jump behind Renjit Maheswary (17.30m) and Arpinder Singh (17.17m).
He had two other good efforts over 16.74m and 16.79m while Services Abdulla Aboobacker also produced his personal best of 16.84m to take silver in a competition that saw his team-mate Karthik Unnikrishnan equal his career best of 16.80. Asian Games champion Arpinder Singh was sixth with a best effort of 15.91m.
Manju Bala Singh (Rajasthan), a 2014 Asian Games medalist, had five throws over the 60m mark with a career best of 64.42m on her third attempt to claim the women’s Hammer Throw meet record from Hardeep Kaur who set it at 61.67m in 2002. The 32-year-old produced the second best throw by an Indian woman behind Sarita Romit Singh’s National record of 65.25m.
On Sunday, Sarita Romit Singh came up with a 59.58m effort on her last try to edge Railways’ team-mate Jyoti Jakhar Rana to third place. The 31-year old Sarita had accounted for the five best throws until this competition where Manju Bala Singh improved on her previous best of 62.74m she achieved in Lucknow in June 2014.
Kartik Kumar (Services) and Sanjivani Baburao Jadhav (Maharashtra) overcame opening day disappointments to claim gold in the 10,000m events on the final day. Kartik Kumar, who finished outside the medal bracket in the 5000m, showed his lasting power to beat Services team-mate and 5000m silver medalist Dharmender. Sanjivani Jadhav, who was second in the 5000m, emerged on top with a comfortable win in the 25-lapper.
Archana Suseendran (Tamil Nadu) was another who did not let an earlier result worry her and claimed the women’s 200m sprint, stopping Taranjeet Kaur (Delhi) from racing away with the sprint double. The Delhi teenager fought hard to bridge the gap and ended up with a maiden sub-24-second effort, finishing just six-hundredths of a second behind Archana Suseendran.
Another Tamil Nadu sprinter Vithya Ramraj completed her triple on Saturday when she won the 400m Hurdles in 58.47 seconds, the best by an Indian woman since Saritben Gayakwad, Arpitha Manjunatha and Jauna Murmu broke the 58-second barrier on March 16, 2019. She ran a fine third leg to star in Tamil Nadu’s Mixed 4x400m Relay win after the quarter-mile gold in 53.79 seconds.
The results (finals):
Men
200m: 1. Amlan Borgohain (Assam) 20.75 seconds (New Meet Record. Old: 20.92, S Arunjith, Jamshedpur, 2007); 2. Balakumar Nitin (Tamil Nadu) 21.06; 3. Nalabothu Shamugha Srinivas (Andhra Pradesh) 21.12.
10,000m: 1. Kartik Kumar (Services) 29:42.63; 2. Dharmender (Services) 29:49.56; 3. Shrawan Kumar Beniwal (Haryan) 30:01.87.
Hammer Throw: 1. Damneet Singh (Punjab) 65.65m; 2. Bajinder Singh (Punjab) 63.29; 3. Sukhdev Singh (Railways) 63.18.
Triple Jump: 1. Praveen Chithravel (Tamil Nadu) 16.88m; 2. Abdulla Aboobacker (Services) 16.84; 3. Karthik Unnikrishnan (Services) 16.80.
4x400m Relay: 1. Haryana (Pankaj, Sachin, Ayush Dabas, Vikrant Panchal) 3:087.86; 2. Services 3:09.13; 3. Punjab 3:11.29.
Women
200m: 1. Archana Suseendran (Tamil Nadu) 23.58 seconds; 2. Taranjeet Kaur (Deli) 23.64; 3. Chandra Lekha (Railways) 24.35.
10,000m: 1. Sanjivani Baburao Jadhav (Mahrashtra) 34:20.03; 2. Kavita Yadav (Railways) 35:57.46; 3. Jyoti (Uttar Pradesh) 36:37.90.
Hammer Throw: 1. Manju Bala Singh (Rajasthan) 64.42m (New Meet Record. Old: 61,67, Hardeep Kaur, Delhi, 2002); 2. Sarita Romit Singh (Railways) 59.58; 3. Jyoti Jakhar Rana (Railways) 58.36.
Discus Throw: 1. Navjeet Kaur Dhillon (Punjab) 54.49m; 2. Nidhi Rani (Railways) 50.87; 3. Gurveer Kaur (Punjab) 48.66.
4x400m Relay: 1. Haryana (Nancy, Nisha, Nanhi, Kavita) 3:42.82; 2. All India Police 3:43.01; 3. Delhi 3:43.13.
Best,
