CHENNAI: Long-jumper Aishwarya B clocked 6.73m during the qualifying rounds of the 61st inter-state National athletics meet at the JN Stadium on Sunday evening to breach the Commonwealth Games’ qualifying mark of 6.50m.
It was also the new meet record by the 24-year-old from Karnataka, rewriting the earlier distance of 6.63m set by Mayookha Johnny in 2011. The Bengaluru girl’s effort is the second best long jump mark by an Indian woman athlete behind Anju Bobby George (6.83m in Athens back in 2004).
Aishwarya B
Earlier, Tamil Nadu’s C Kanimozhi won the women’s 100m hurdles gold with a timing of 13.62 seconds in what was an eventful race. Andhra Pradesh’s Jyothi Yarraji --- the National record holder --- was the favourite to win the event.
The 22-year-old took the lead in the race with Kanimozhi in second place. However, Jyothi lost her balance once she hit a few hurdles, and eventually fell down after coming in contact with the final hurdle.
Kanimozhi, who had taken the lead in the race just before Jyothi missed out, went on to top the race. West Bengal’s M Moumita (13.86) came second while Kanimozhi’s statemate PM Thabitha (14.09) was third.
“It is pleasing to have won a medal, but my timing could have been much better. Also, it was very unfortunate for Jyothi to have lost out despite being in such a good position,” Kanimozhi told TOI.
The men’s 110m hurdles saw Maharashtra’s Siddhanth Thingalaya (13.93 seconds) reigning supreme followed by Tamil Nadu’s Surendhar Jayakumar (14.18) and Tarundeep Bhatia (14.21) of Punjab finishing second and third respectively.
The men’s shot put event saw Punjab’s Tajinderpal Singh Toor win gold with a distance of 20.34m. Tajinderpal’s statemate Karanveer Singh (19.07) and Rajasthan’s Akshay (18.31m) won silver and bronze respectively.
In the women’s javelin throw final, Annu Rani topped the list (60.97m) followed by Shilpa Rani (59.01) and Sanjana Choudhary (56.14m).
Hima Das & Co win 4x100m: Dutee Chand, Hima Das, S Dhanalakshmi and Srabani Nanda teamed up to win the women’s 4x100m event with a timing of 43.95 seconds. The men’s 4x100m saw Tamil Nadu team comprising Tamil Arasu, K Elakkiyadasan, A Vignesh, B Sivakumar sealing the deal in 39.88 seconds.
Results:
3000m steeplechase: Men: Balkishan (Haryana): 8:42.34, Rohit Verma (Haryana) 8:46.43, Rakesh Kumar Swami (Rajasthan) 8:46.64; Women: Parul Chaudhury (UP) 9:42.16, Sudha Singh (UP) 10:05.72, Komal Chandraka Jagadale (Maharashtra) 10:07.57
110m hurdles: Men: Siddhanth Thingalaya (Maharashtra)13.93, Surendhar Jayakumar (TN) 14.18, Tarundeep Bhatia (Punjab) 14.21; Women: C Kanimozhi (TN) 13.62, M Moumita (West Bengal) 13.86, P Thabitha (TN) 14.09; High jump: Men: Sarvesh Kushare (Maharashtra) 2.24m, Jesse Sandesh (Karnataka) 2.21m, Bharathi Viswanathan 2.18m
Shot put: Men: Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Punjab) 20.34m, Karanveer Singh (Punjab) 19.07, Akshay (Rajasthan) 18.31
Javelin throw: Women: Annu Rani (UP): 60.97m, Shilpa Rani (Haryana) 59.01m, Sanjana Choudhary (Rajasthan) 56.14m.
Men: 4x100m: TN: Tamil Arasu, K Elakkiyadasan, A Vignesh, B Sivakumar 39.88; Punjab: Narinder Singh, Bikramjit Singh, Love Preet Singh, Harjit Singh 40.46; Maharashtra: Annappa Shetty, Pandurang Bhosale, Rahul Kadam and Jay Shah 40.88.
Women: India: Dutee Chand, Hima Das, Srabani Nanda and S Dhanalakshmi 43.95 seconds, Sri Lanka: W Sugandhi, D De silva, B Jayamanna, R Jansen 45,35; Kerala: S Megha, Sneha, M Jilna, Shielda AP 45.71
