Services’ Manu DP dominated the men’s Javelin Throw final at the 61st AFI National Open Athletics Championships at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here, improving the meet record three times this evening. He opened with 80.32m, improved it to 80.50m before uncorking a final throw over 81.23m.
With his first throw, the 22-year-old broke the meet record set at 79.04m by Ravinder Singh Khaira in Lucknow in 2016. He remained the only athlete to breach the 80m mark today, adding the National Open title to the top prize he won in the National Inter-State Championships in Chennai in June this year.
Manu will be pleased that he breached the 80m mark in a final for the fifth time this year, including in the Commonwealth Games where he finished fifth with 82.28. With a 79.80m throw on his third attempt, Rohit Yadav (Railways) appeared to have warmed up to the idea of posing Manu a challenge, but that was not to be.
Krishan Kumar and KM Chanda also won the half-mile events for men and women respectively to add to their victories in the National Inter-State Championships.
Services’ Krishan Kumar had to strain his every sinew to beat a fast-finishing Abhishek Singh (Madhya Pradesh) in the men’s 800m. Krishan Kumar seemed set to stay well in front from about 150m through the end, but Abhishek upped the pace as he approached the home straight. The Services runner held on to break the beam by the skin of his teeth.
Railways’ Chanda did not face such competition and ran out a comfortable winner in the women’s 800m. She could have improved on her personal best time of 2:01.58 had she not been alone over the final 150m, but she had to rest content with a 2:02.49 which is the fourth fastest she has ever run in the two-lap event.
Rajasthan’s Yaman Deep Sharma beat back a challenge by Services’ Sunil Kumar in Decathlon with strong efforts in the final three events. Trailing by 36 points after a poor show in Discus Throw, Yaman Deep Sharma rallied to win by a mere 52 points, doing a shade better than his Services rival in Pole Vault, Javelin Throw and 1500m.
The results (final):
Men
800m: 1. Krishan Kumar (Services) 1:48.80; 2. Abhishek Singh (Madhya Pradesh) 1:48.82; 3. Prakash Balu Gadade (Services) 1:48.98.
Discus Throw: 1. Kirpal Singh (ONGC) 58.15m; 2. Parshant Malik (Haryana) 55.10; 3. Nirbhay Singh (Haryana) 54.88.
Javelin Throw: 1. DP Manu (Services) 81.23m (New Meet record. Old: 79.04, Ravinder Singh Khaira, Lucknow, 2016); 2. Rohit Yadav (Railways) 79.80; 3. Kishore Kumar Jena (Odisha) 78.05.
Decathlon: 1. Yaman Deep Sharma (Rajasthan) 6713 points (100m: 11.54, LJ: 6.79, SP: 10.83, HJ: 1.91, 400: 51.25, 110mH: 15.87, DT: 30.08, PV: 4.30, JT: 47.56, 1500: 4:33.82); 2. Sunil Kumar (Services) 6661; 3. Tejinder Singh (Sevrices) 6640.
Women
800m: 1. KM Chanda (Railways) 2:02.49; 2. Pooja (Railways) 2:05.92; Twinkle Chaudhury (Railways) 2:06.44.
Triple Jump: 1. Poorva Hitesh Sawant (Maharashtra) 13.18m; 2. NV Sheena (Kerala) 13.07; 3. Karthika Gothandapani (Railways) 13.00.
High Jump: 1. Abhinaya Shetty (Railways) 1.78m; 2. Kevinaa Ashwinie Annavi (Tamil Nadu) 1.76; 3. Rubina Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) 1.74.
