Dixsha (Jhajjar) and Obami Murmu (Paschim Midnapur) marked their debut on the national stage with gold medal victories in the girls U14 Triathlon A and B events respectively in the 18th National Inter-District Junior Athletics Meet at the Patliputra Sports Complex here.
“Despite winning gold, I was disappointed that I did not do well in the 60m sprint. However, I am thrilled that I was able to speak to my idol Mrs. Anju Bobby George on the telephone before the medal ceremony today,” Obami Murmu, 13-year-old daughter of a trader, said.
Trailing Salem’s M Gopika and Tiruvannamalai’s R Bhavadharani after the sprint, she pitched in a good effort over 2.42m in the Standing Broad Jump. She then cleared 1.41m in the High Jump and heaved a sigh of relief when Bhavadharani’s High Jump campaign ended at 1.43m. Nadia’s Rinku Ghosh cleared 1.53m in the High Jump to edge past Gopika to the bronze medal.
Similarly, Dixsha’s 2.46m leap in the Standing Broad Jump earned her enough points to overcome the challenge of Anuskha Gutte (Bhandara) by a mere 32 points. Anushka Gutte secured more points than Dixsha in the 60m sprint and the Shot Put but missed out on gold as she mustered 2.10m in the Broad Jump.
The outcome of the Triathlon events reflected a couple of things. The scoring tables are different for boys and girls. Besides, U14 girls mature faster than the boys of their age. Himanshu Kumar Singh (East Singhbhum) rallied from a below par 60m sprint with splendid efforts in the Standing Broad Jump and High Jump to leapfrog past Dammu Ganesh (Visakhapatnam) to gold medal.
Kanak Devi (Saharanpur) rewrote the National record in the recently introduced Kids Javelin event when topping the girls U14 qualifiers for the final. She throw the Kids Javelin over 34.32m, past the existing mark of 33.60m set by Tejaswani Dhal in the National Junior Championships in Guwahati on November 14 last. Tejaswani Dhal was second with 31.65m today.
Meanwhile, Yashwant Reddy Kandu (Nalgonda) scorched the track when emerging the fastest of the Boys U16 80m sprinters who competed in a whopping 42 heats. His time of 9.26 seconds was 0.02 seconds faster than that of Varanasi’s Jamil Ali. As many as 20 athletes covered the distance inside 10 seconds
Avdesh Batham (Gwalior) clocked 4:31.71 to top the Boys U16 1600m qualifiers for the final. Fellow Manipur lads, Imphal East Sagolshem Rishan Meetei (4:33.18) and Bishnupur’s Nongthomba John Singh (4:33.84) produced a stirring heat that saw them finish with the second and third best times in 16 heats.
The crowd in the Patliputra Sports Complex rose on its feet when Pratigya Panna (Nilgiris), Muskan (Sonipat), Anshu (Aligarh) and Sonam Kumari (Ranchi) pushed one another hard when squaring up in a Girls U16 1600m heats. They produced four of the five fastest times in the seven heats, Pratigya Panna’s 5:20.15 being the best of the day.
With a 3.81m leap, P Shrihanisha (Coimbatore) sailed into the final of the Girls U16 Long Jump, an event in which AFI restricted the length of the run up to 5m.
Maharashtra’s hurdlers laid down the gauntlet yet again. Thane’s Saif Farooq Chafekar was the only one to dip in under 11 seconds in the Boys U16 80m Hurdles semifinals, his time of 10.72 seconds being 0.28 seconds faster than the time clocked by Selva Raj (Tirunelveli).
Shaivi Rakesh Mehta (Mumbai Suburban) and Abhilasha Waghmare (Satara) topped the performances in the Girls U16 80m Hurdles semifinals winning their heats in 12.85 seconds and 12.87 seconds respectively.
The results (final):
Boys U14 Triathlon B (60m, Standing Broad Jump, High Jump): 1. Himanshu Kumar (East Singhbum) (8.57s, 2.80m, 1.75m) 1632 points; 2. Dammu Ganesh (Visakhapatnam) 1616; 3. Suraj Singh (Dehradun) 1608.
Girls U14 Triathlon A (60m, Standing Broad Jump, Shot Put): 1. Dixsha (Jhajjar) (8.62s, 2.46m, 9.59m) 1756 points; 2. Anushka Gutte (Bhandara) 1724; 3. Dhimahi Trivedi (Ahmedabad) 1661.
Girls U14 Triathlon B (60m, Standing Broad Jump, High Jump): 1. Obami Murmu (Paschim Midnapur) (8.53s, 2.42m, 1.41m) 1783 points; 2. R Bhavadharani (Tiruvannamalai) 1742; 3. Rinku Ghosh (Nadia) 1730.
