Chhattisgarh’s Animesh Kujur, Parvej Khan (Madhya Pradesh) and Karnataka’s P Yashas came up with eye-catching performances to win the men’s 200m, 800m and 400m Hurdles finals respectively on the final day of the second AFI National Open U23 Athletics Championships at the BR Yadav Stadium in Behetrai here today
On a day when as many as eight meet records were set, including two by women, the strapping Animesh Kujur, Parvej Khan and Yashas stood out with significant improvement of their personal best efforts.
Parvej Khan, competing in an 800m in a national-level championships for the first time since the Khelo India Youth Games in Guwahati in January 2020, drew on his endurance and speed to complete the middle-distance double. He produced a dramatic sprint over the last 150m to make light of the big gap that Pradeep Senthilkumar held with 200m left.
Parvej Khan won in 1:47.96, improving on the 1:51.37 he clocked in the inter-university meet in January this year. His time today is the sixth fastest time clocked by an Indian for the two-lapper this year.
The 19-year-old Animesh Kujur won the 200m in 21.12 seconds, 0.48 seconds faster than his previous best in the National Games semifinals in Gandhinagar earlier this month. Yashas, 20, who shifted from High Jump to compete in 400m Hurdles, beat favourite Dhaval Uttekar (Maharashtra) to the gold today in 50.89 seconds while improving his own best from 52.01.
The concluding day’s other meet records came from Kaustubha Jaiswal (men’s High Jump with a personal best effort of 2.13m), Nitesh Poonia (men’s Hammer Throw) and Rishabh Nehra (men’s Javelin Throw with a personal best of 76.97m) as well as Karishma Sanil (women’s Javelin Throw) and Tanushree (Heptathlon with a personal best of 4910 points).
The results (finals)
Men
200m: 1. Animesh Kujur (Chhattisgarh) 21.12 seconds; 2. Lakshay (Uttar Pradesh) 21.48; 3. Ansh (Delhi) 21.53.
800m: 1. Parvej Khan (Madhya Pradesh) 1:47.96; 2. Pradeep Senthilkumar (Tamil Nadu) 1:48.21; 3. Satya Dev (Haryana) 1:48.58.
5000m: 1. Sunil Dawar (Madhya Pradesh) 14:13.92; 2. Pravin Jaywant Khambal (Maharashtra) 14:19.29; 3. Ajay (Haryana) 14:19.69.
400m Hurdles: 1. P Yashas (Karnataka) 50.89 seconds; 2. Dhaval Utekar (Maharashtra) 51.53; 3. A Rohith (Kerala) 51.72.
High Jump: 1. Kaustubha Jaiswal (Madhya Pradesh) 2.13m; 2. Swadhin Kumar Majhi (Odisha) 2,10; 3. Uchchcaal Roy (West Bengal)
Long Jump: 1. S Arya (Karnataka) 7.56m; 2. R Sajan (Kerala) 7.56; 3. Pursushotham (Karnataka) 7.54.
Hammer Throw: 1. Nitesh Poonia (Rajasthan) 64.75m; 2. Naveen Yadav (Haryana) 64.15; 3. Praveen Kumar (Rajasthan) 62.44.
Javelin Throw: 1. Rishabh Nehra (Uttar Pradesh) 76.97m; 2. Vikas Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) 73.17; 3. Izhar Ahmed (Uttar Pradesh) 72.03.
Women
200m: 1. Giridharani Ravikumar (Tamil Nadu) 24.80 seconds; 2. Shivkanya Mukati (Madhya Pradesh) 25.14; 3. Priya (Haryana) 25.30.
800m: 1. Mittal Chaudhri (Gujarat) 2:12.79; 2. Priscilla Daniel (Kerala) 2:12.87; 3. Nikita Sharma (Himachal Pradesh) 2:12.87.
5000m: 1. Basanti Kumari (Jharkhand) 17:01.86; 2. Poonam Sonune (Maharashtra) 17:15.90; 3. Mamta Choudhary (Rajasthan) 17:26.37.
400m Hurdles: 1. Pragyan Prasant Sahu (Odisha) 1:00.28; 2. Olimba Steffi (Tamil Nadu) 1:01.17; 3. Delna Philip (Kerala) 1:01.61.
Long Jump: 1. PS Prabhavathi (Kerala) 6.03m; 2. Ambrika Narzary (Assam) 5.98; 3. Manisha Merel (Odisha) 5.94.
Javelin Throw: 1. Karishma Sanil (Karnataka) 51.07m; 2. Anjani Kumari (Bihar) 49.95; 3. Shakshi Sharma (Uttar Pradesh) 46.65.
Heptathlon: 1. Tanushree (Rajasthan) 4910 points (100mH: 15.29; HJ: 1.67; SP: 9.70; 200m: 26.77; LJ: 5.24; JT: 37.88; 800: 2:22.21); 2. Kamaljeet Kaur (Haryana) 4659; 3. Deepika (Tamil Nadu) 4573.
