Rupal, the 17-year-old from Meerut, shocked under-20 Worlds mixed relay bronze medallist Priya H. Mohan and won the women’s 400m gold at the 20 th National Federation Cup under-20 athletics championships at Nadiad, Gujarat, on Friday.
Rupal, the silver medallist behind Priya at the varsities Nationals in Bhubaneswar in February, pipped the junior international by one-hundredth of a second and clocked a personal best 52.48s (previous 53.05). It was Priya’s first loss in the 400m in an Indian competition in nearly three years and Rupal was competing in her first AFI National meet this year.
Meanwhile Shaili Singh, last year’s under-20 Worlds silver medallist, won the women’s long jump with 6.11m. A big bunch of athletes, including three in men’s 10,000m race walk and 110m hurdles, achieved the qualification standard for the under-20 Worlds to be held in Colombia in August.
The results (gold winners only):
Men: 100m: Aman Khokhar (UP) 10.56s. 400m: H. Rihan (Kar) 48.31s. 110m hurdles: M. Krishik (Kar) 14.02s. 10,000m race walk: Rohitkumar Yadav (Guj) 43:06.16s. Long jump: Chandrasekhar (UP) 7.65m. Javelin throw: Vivek (MP) 69.99m. Shot put: Sanyam (Har) 19.42m. Decathlon: Sunil Kumar (Har) 6788 pts.
Women: 100m: Priyanka Sikarwar (UP) 11.88s. 400m: Rupal (UP) 52.48s. 100m hurdles: Agasara Nandini (Tel) 13.97s. Long jump: Shaili Singh (UP) 6.11m. High Jump: Khyati Mathur (UP) 1.73m. Pole vault: Vanshika Ghanghas (Har) 3.40m. Discus throw: Kiran (Rajasthan) 46.66m.
