Assam sprinters Hima Das and Amlan Borgohain claimed the titles of the fastest woman and man of the SNJ 61st National Inter-State Athletics Championships at the Nehru Stadium here on Saturday evening. However, it was 31-year-old Shot Putter Manpreet Kaur (Haryana) who took the second day’s honours with a new National Record.
Manpreet Kaur opened with 16.38m but after being in second place, she upped the game with a 16.65m try to take the lead. Her third attempt was over 17.54m to rewrite the meet record held by Harbans Kaur and to gain Commonwealth Games qualification. She then wound herself up for the first 18m Put by an Indian with an effort of 18.06m on her fourth visit.
Javelin Throwers DP Manu (Karnataka) and Rohit Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) both sent the spear over 80m mark. Rohit Yadav produced four throws past 80m, taking the meet mark on his opening try over 82.45m and with 82.54 on his fifth try being his best. But Manu improved the meet mark with a winning try of 84.35m on his third attempt.
Long Jumpers Muhammed Anees Yahiya (Kerala) and M Sreeshankar (Kerala) became the other athletes to break a meet mark when they leapt to 8.15m and 8.23m respectively. Sreeshankar had improved the meet mark to 8.01 in the qualifying round on Friday and ensured that it would stay with him with a winning effort.
Hima Das stunned Odisha’s Dutee Chand and Srabani Nanda with the second fastest sprint by an Indian woman this year, clocking 11.43 seconds. Not been beaten over the distance this year, Dutee Chand was a hundredth of a second behind. Tamil Nadu’s S Dhanalakhsmi, whose 11.26s in Turkey a week ago, is the fastest time by an Indian this season, skipped the 100m.
Amlan Borgohain edged out Tamil Nadu’s K Elakkiyadasan in the men’s race, winning in 10.47 seconds. Like in Hima Das’s conquest, his margin of victory was also one hundredth of a second over Elakkiyadasan. Harjit Singh, fastest in the semifinals, was third by a fair distance behind the two.
Karnataka quartermiler Priya H Mohan’s withdrawl from the women’s 400m final was expected to take the edge out, but Kiran Pahal (Haryana) and Rupal Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh) provided excitement in a thrilling race. The Haryana sprinter won by a margin of just a quarter of a second as the top two competitors dipped in under 53 seconds.
The men’s 400m final saw Amoj Jacob establish himself as India’s best quartermiler. He was the only one who broke the 46-second barrier, coming home in an Indian season best time of 45.68 seconds. He improved on Noah Nirmal Tom’s time of 45.83 seconds clocked in a meet in Turkey a week ago. Noah Nirmal Tom (Kerala) was second on Saturday in 46.44 seconds.
The results (finals):
Men
100m: 1. Amlan Borgohain (Assam) 10.47 seconds; 2. K Elakkiyadasan (Tamil Nadu) 10.48; 3. Harjit Singh (Punjab) 10.55.
400m: 1. Amoj Jacob (Delhi) 45.68 seconds; 2. Noah Nirmal Tom (Kerala) 46.44; 3. Muhammed Ajmal (Kerala) 46.58.
1500m: 1. Harendra Kumar (Delhi) 3:44.26; 2. Ajay Kumar Saroj (Uttar Pradesh) 3:44.60; 3. Parvej Khan (Madhya Pradesh) 3:45.15.
Pole Vault: 1. S Siva (Tamil Nadu) 5.00m; 2. A Gnana Sone (Tamil Nadu) and Sunil (Haryana) 4.60.
Long Jump: 1. M Sreeshankar (Kerala) 8.23m (New meet record. Old: 8.01, M Sreeshankhar, Chennai, 2022); 2. Muhammed Anees Yahiya (Uttar Pradesh) 8.15m; 3. Swaminathan (Tamil Nadu) 7.89.
Javelin Throw: 1. Manu DP (Karnataka) 84.35m (New Meet Record. Old: 82.28, Shivpal Singh, Guwahati, 2018); 2. Rohit Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) 82.54; Yashvir Singh (Rajasthan) 78.62.
Decathlon: 1. Yaman Deep Sharma (Rajasthan) 6948 points (100m: 11.55; LJ: 6.87; SP: 10.10; HJ: 1.98; 400m: 49.96; 110mH: 15.65; DT: 33.26; PV: 4.50; JT: 47.81; 1500m: 4:34.96); 2. Umesh Lamba (Rajasthan) 6719; 3. SG Sreedhu (Tamil Nadu) 6657.
Women
100m: 1. Hima Das (Assam) 11.43 seconds; 2. Dutee Chand (Odisha) 11.44; 3. Srabani Nanda (Odisha) 11.53.
400m: 1. Kiran Pahal (Haryana) 52.47 seconds; 2. Rupal Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh) 52.72; 3. R Vithya Ramaraj (Tamil Nadu) 53.78.
1500m: 1. Chanda (Delhi) 4:13.85; 2. Shraddha Rajan Kathiriya (Gujarat) 4;14.54; 3. Ankita Dhyani (Uttarakhand) 4:17.80.
Shot Put: 1. Manpreet Kaur (Haryana) 18.06m (New National & Meet Record. Old NR: 17.96, Manpreet Kaur, Kolkata, 2015; Old MR: 16.98, Harbans Kaur, Kolkata, 1998); 2. Kiran Baliyan (Uttar Pradesh) 16.84; 3. Abha Khatua (Maharashtra) 16.69.
