There were few sizzling displays on a hot evening in the Indian Grand Prix 1 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Tuesday. Tamil Nadu’s 23-year-old Praveen Chithravel was the closest to achieving the Paris 2024 qualifying standard when he leapt 17.12m in the men’s triple jump while Shaili Singh enhanced her chances by winning the women’s long jump with a best effort of 6.52m.
Chithravel who set the national record in Havana in May last year, went close to meeting the qualifying standard on his fourth attempt, finishing an agonising 10 cm behind the 17.22m mark that would have assured him a ticket to Paris 2024. The 17.12m effort was the fourth best by an Indian at home.
Among the women competitors, it was Shaili (Uttar Pradesh) who caught the eye by leaping 6.52m in the women’s long jump. It can help her rise in the Road to Paris ranking from No. 42. With World Athletics earmarking 32 slots for the event, Shaili will have to jump 6.86m to achieve automatic qualification or be among the top 32 on the Road to Paris ranking.
The spotlight in the men’s javelin throw was on Manu DP (Karnataka) who is chasing 85.50m as the target to achieve automatic qualification for Paris 2024. The World No. 12, who can join Neeraj Chopra and Kishore Kumar Jena in the 32-man Olympic Games line-up on the basis of his ranking, punched turf at 81.91m on his third try and followed it up with three fouled throws.
Hima Das’s return to competition after more than a year – she spent some of that time battling an National Anti-Doping Agency charge that she had committed a Whereabouts violation after missing three tests – proved to be uneventful as she gave up competing halfway through her 200m race.
It was her 2018 Asian Games 1600m relay team-mate VK Vismaya who won race A in 23.96 seconds, sneaking ahead of Telangana’s Nithya Gandhe over the last few strides. However, Andhra Pradesh’s Chelimi Prathyusha emerged as the fastest woman over 200m on Tuesday night with a personal best time of 23.92 seconds. It was her maiden crown at the senior level.
Earlier, Nithya, a national U-18 champion in 2016, clocked 11.78 seconds to leave Srabani Nanda in the second place in the women’s 100m A race. It was the 24-year-old’s maiden 100m victory at the senior level, though she had finished first in Race B in the Indian Grand Prix 4 in Bengaluru on April 15 last year.
The 20-year-old Animesh Kujur emerged as the fastest man with a personal best of 10.51 seconds in the absence of Amlan Borgohain (Assam) and Manikanta Hobildar (Karnataka). Kujur’s previous best time of 10.66 seconds came in the Federation Cup in Ranchi on May 15 last year. He added the 200m title, clocking 20.97 seconds, to be the only one to win a double.
The results:
Men
100m (Races A, B, C & D): 1. Animesh Kujur (Odisha) 10.51 seconds; 2. Lalu Prasad Bhoi (Odisha) 10.64; 3. I Gitson (Tamil Nadu) 10.69.
200m (Races A & B): 1. Animesh Kujur (Odisha) 20.97 seconds; 2. Jay Shah (Maharashtra) 21.35; 3. Nalubothu Shanmugham Srinivas (Andhra Pradesh) 21.44.
800m (Races A & B): 1. Ankesh Chaudhary (Himachal Pradesh) 1:47.72; 2. Mohammed Afsal (Kerala) 1:49.57; 3. Sahil Khan (Rajasthan) 1:50.18.
3000m Steeplechase: 1. Shankar Lal Swami (Haryana) 9:12.55; 2. Kiran Matre (Maharashtra) 9:15.68; 3. Ashok Dandasena (Odisha) 9:39.50.
High Jump: 1. Jesse Sandesh (Karnataka) 2.20m; 2. Aadrash Ram (Tamil Nadu) 2.10; 3. Sudeep (Karnataka) 2.10.
Long Jump: 1. Aditya Kumar Singh (Madhya Pradesh) 8.01m; 2. E Aravinth (Tamil Nadu) 7.84; 3. S Arya (Karnataka) 7.73.
Triple Jump: 1. Praveen Chithravel (Tamil Nadu) 17.12m; 2. Eldhose Paul (Kerala) 16.29; 3. Mohammed Salahuddin (Tamil Nadu) 16.07.
Javelin Throw: 1. Manu DP (Karnataka) 81.91m; 2. Uttam Balasaheb Patil (Maharashtra) 76.81; 3. Vikas Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) 75.99.
Women
100m (Races A & B): 1. Nithya Gandhe (Telangana) 11.78 seconds; 2. Srabani Nanda (Odisha) 11.98; 3. V Sudeeksha (Karnataka) 12.15.
200m (Races A & B): 1. Chelimi Prathyusha (Andhra Pradesh) 23.92 seconds; 2. VK Vismaya (Kerala) 23.96; 3. Nithya Gandhe (Telangana) 24.01.
800m: 1. Laxmipriya Kisan (Odisha) 2:10.88; 2. EB Arpitha (Karnataka) 2:12.13; 3. Shivani Kumar (Bihar) 2:14.31.
3000m Steeplechase: 1. Sonam (Delhi) 10:43.65; 2. Nikita (Rajasthan) 10:54.62; 3. Sismita Tigga (Odisha) 11:31.40.
High Jump: 1. Abhinaya S Shetty (Karnataka) 1.74m; 2. Mohur Mukherjee (West Bengal) 1.71.
Long Jump: 1. Shaili Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 6.52m; 2. Nayana James (Kerala) 6.44; 3. Susmita (Rajasthan) 6.08.
Triple Jump: 1. NV Sheena (Kerala) 13.48m; 2. Gayathry Sivakumar (Kerala) 13.31; 3. Sharvari Avninash Parulekar (Maharashtra) 13.13.
Shot Put: 1. Abha Khatua (Maharashtra) 16.59m; 2. V Ambika (Karnataka) 14.07.
Javelin Throw: 1. K Rashmi (Andhra Pradesh) 53.77m; 2. Ramyashree Jain (Karnataka) 47.59; 3. Vishakha Panwar (Uttar Pradesh) 42.55.