New Delhi
While Odisha’s Srabani Nanda and Amiya Kumar Mallick emerged fastest female and male athletes, India’s star female javelin thrower Annu Rani began her 2023 season on a promising at the 26th National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships being held at Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Stadium.
Srabani’s winning time of 11.57 seconds however fell short of Asian athletics championship qualification time of 11.44 secs.
On Tuesday, Annu, 30 years old Commonwealth Games bronze medalist hurled the javelin to a distance of 59.24m in her last attempt to qualify for the July 12 -16 Asian Athletics Championship and the Hangzhou Asian Games scheduled to be held in September. She had a series of 57.49m, 57.86m, 56.60, 57.08m, 57.61m, 59.24m.
Aishwarya Mishra (Maharashtra) who clocked 52.57 secs to finish first was disqualified for lane infringement. Priya Mohan who finished second lodged a protest after the race with the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) technical panel.
Tamil Nadu’s Rajesh Ramesh ran the fastest 400m race of the season as he clocked 45.75 secs to win gold. Muhammed Ajmal also dipped below the 46 secs barrier to win silver. His time was 45.85 seconds, while Olympian Muhammed Anas crossed the finish line at 46.19 to win bronze.
Earlier, 15 athletes made the cut for the final of the men’s 5000m. The athletes were selected from two heats conducted Tuesday morning. In both the heats the top three runners crossed the finish line below 14 minutes 10 seconds, hinting that the final will be an exciting race. The Asian qualifying time in 5000m is 14 minutes.
Uttar Pradesh’s Gulveer Singh, winner of the men’s 10,000m gold, will aim for a double in the meet as he has also qualified for the 5000m final.
The men’s 110m hurdles heats saw Maharashtra’s Tejas Ashok Shirse better the previous meet record of 13.65 seconds by clocking 13.61 seconds in his heat. Of the 13 competitors contesting for a place in the final Shirse was the only athlete to have dipped below 14 seconds in the 110m hurdles. The Asian championships qualification mark is 13.57 secs.
However, in the women’s 100m hurdles heats, three athletes achieved the Asian qualification standards. Jyothi Yarraji of Andhra Pradesh also improved her meet record by clocking 13.18 seconds.
R Nithya Ramaraj of Tamil Nadu (13.62 secs) and Pragyan Prasant Sahu (13.61 secs) were the other two athletes to have qualified for continental meet in July.
Meanwhile, late Monday evening, Md Nur Hasan representing Uttar Pradesh and Priti Lamba won gold medals in the men and women’s 3000m steeplechase. The duo also achieved the Asian athletics championship qualification standards in their respective groups.
Results (All final)
Men
100m (Asian championship qualification time 10.19 secs): Amiya Kumar Mallick (Odisha) 10.31 secs, Elakkiyadasan K (Tamil Nadu) 10.37 secs, Dondapati Mruty (Odisha) 10.40 secs.
400m (Asian championship qualification time 46.17 secs): Rajesh Ramesh (Tamil Nadu) 45.75 secs, Muhammed Ajmal (Kerala) 45.85 secs, Muhammad Anas (Kerala) 46.19 secs
1500m (Asian championship qualifying time 3:47.84): Jinson Johnson (Kerala) 3:44.43 secs, Abhishek Singh Thakur (Madhya Pradesh) 3:45.32 secs, Rahul (Delhi) 3:45.72 secs.
3000m steeplechase (Asian championship qualification time 8:40): Md Nur Hasan (UP) 8:30.56, Vikram Singh (Madhya Pradesh) 8:40.20, Sumit Singh (Delhi) 8:48.49 secs.
Shot put (Asian championship qualification mark 19m): Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Punjab) 20.42m, Sahib Singh (Delhi) 19.23m, Karanveer Singh (Punjab) 19.05m.
High jump (Asian championship qualification mark 2.24m): Sarvesh Anil Kushare (Mah) 2.22m, Jesse Sandesh (Karnataka) 2.18m, Swadhin Kumar Majhi (Odisha) 2.11m.
Women
100m (Asian championship qualification time 11.44 secs): Srabani Nanda (Odisha) 11.57 secs, Archana S (Tamil Nadu) 11.66 secs, Daneshwari AT (Karnataka) 11.69 secs.
400m (Asian championship qualification time 53.54 secs): Priya Mohan (Karnataka) 53.40 secs, Sonia Baishya (West Bengal) 53.42 secs, Florence Barla (Jharkhand) 53.76 secs.
1500m (Asian championship qualification mark 4:17.90): Ankita (Uttarakhand) 4:16.99 secs, Chanda (Delhi) 4:17.55 secs, Pooja (Haryana) 4:20.03 secs.
Triple jump (Asian championship qualification mark 13.58m): Poorva Hitesh Sawant (Maharashtra) 13.27m, Mallala Anusha (Andhra Pradesh) 13.11m, Karthika Gothandapani (Andhra Pradesh) 13.10m.
Javelin throw (Asian championship qualification mark 54.73m): Annu Rani (UP) 59.24m, Uma Choudhary (Rajasthan) 51.15m, Shilpa Rani (Haryana) 50.87m
3000m steeplechase (Asian championship qualifying time 9:58.55): Priti Lamba (Haryana) 9:47.78 secs, Bhagyashree Lahanu (Gujarat) 10:24.03, Komal Chandrakant Jagdale (Maharashtra) 10:25.32 secs