Abhishek Mishra in Chennai
The highlight of Day 2 at the National Senior Interstate Athletics Championship was Vishal TK’s blistering golden run in the men’s 400m.
Spurred on by local crowd support, the 21-year-old quarter-miler from Tamil Nadu wrote a new national record, clocking an impressive 45.12s. This marked Vishal’s fifth sub-46s time of the season.
The earlier record was in the name of Mohammed Anas of Kerala and was unbeaten for six long years. Local knowledge played a part in the result and the subsequent record.
“This is my home ground,” said Vishal after the record-breaking run. “I have trained here for a long time, so I knew I could give my best and go for the national record.”
Vishal has seen a lot of improvement under India’s foreign coach Jason Dawson, so much so that he even wrote a tribute on the back of his race bib – “For my coach Jason.”
Rajesh Ramesh, another quarter-miler from Tamil Nadu, took the silver with a timing of 46.04s, while Haryana’s Vikrant Panchal clinched bronze, clocking 46.17s.
Devyaniba Zala of Gujarat bagged the gold medal in the women’s 400m with a time of 53.37s.
In the 1500m, Asian Championship silver medallist Pooja Olla took the gold home. The 23-year-old from Haryana clocked a season’s-best time of 4:10.68, which helped her to gain crucial ranking points on the road to the World Athletics Championship in Tokyo.
With the deadline for Tokyo being August 24, this performance came at the right time. “If I get the chance to run at the World Championship, I will do my best,” Pooja told Revsportz after the medal ceremony.
Yoonus Shah of Uttar Pradesh bagged the 1500m gold medal, clocking 3:41.22. Another middle-distance runner from Uttar Pradesh, Ajay Kumar Saroj, the Asian Games medallist, had to settle for silver, while Arjun Waskale of Madhya Pradesh took the bronze.
The men’s 110m hurdles saw India’s national record holder, Tejas Shirse, dominating the heats. Tejas clocked an impressive 13.72s and will try to stay in top spot tomorrow.
In the women’s 100m hurdles, Moumita Mondal and Praygan Prashanti Shahu topped in their heats, and will face each other in the finals.
Day 2 – Final Results
Men
400m – Vishal TK (TN) 45.12s, Rajesh Ramesh (TN) 46.04s, Vikrant Panchal (HR) 46.17s
1500m – Yoonus Shah (UP) 3:41.22s, Ajay Saroj (UP) 3:41.55s, Arjun Waskale (MP) 3:42.86s
Decathlon – Stalin Joes (TN) 7052 pts, Kushal Mohite (MH) 6976 pts, Kamal Dhankhar (HR) 6820 pts
Discus Throw – Kirpal Singh (CH) 55.00m, Nirbhay Singh (HR) 53.62m, Ujjawal Choudhary (HR) 53.23m
Women
400m – Devyaniba Zala (GJ) 53.37s, Anankha BA (KL) 53.84s, Prachi (UP) 53.96s
1500m – Pooja (HR) 4:10.68s, Lili Das (UK) 4:12.47s, Amandeep Kaur (PB) 4:21.37s
Pole Vault – Baranica Elangovan (TN) 4.10m, Mariya Jaison (KL) 4.05m, Sathya Tamilarasan (TN) 4.00m
Shot Put – Kachnar Chaudhary (RJ) 15.75m, Vidhi (UP) 15.30m, Shiksha (HR) 15.18m
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