Parul Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh) and KM Deeksha (Madhya Pradesh) scripted new meet records in the women’s 3000m Steeplechase and 1500m respectively, on the second day of the National Inter-State Athletics Championships at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar on Friday. But the women quarter-milers, led by Anjali Devi (Haryana), stole their thunder in a sensational race.
The top three finishers – Anjali (51.48 seconds), her Haryana team-mate Himanshi Malik (51.76) and Tamil Nadu’s R Vithya Ramraj (52. 49) – each found their personal bests. Anjali’s time was the joint-sixth-fastest (with Nirmala Sheoran) by an Indian woman over the distance, behind Hima Das, Manjeet Kaur, Aishwarya Kailash Mishra, KM Beenamol and Chitra K Soman.
Even before the runners had got to the back straight from the starting blocks, it was obvious that Anjali was well prepared to deliver the best run of her career. Vithya found the energy and the speed to ride on the Anjali’s blistering pace till well into the home stretch, but was unable to hold on to second place against the long-striding Himanshi.
Yet, any attempt to brand this race as the best ever on Indian soil would be to forget the National Circuit race in Chennai on June 16, 2004, when Manjeet, Chitra, Rajwinder Kaur Gill and Beenamol all broke the tape inside 52 seconds. But Anjali, Himanshi and Vithya ensured that Friday’s race would be remembered for a long time.
The fans’ appetite was whetted in the semifinal stage, where the likes of Jisna Mathew, Nirmala Sheoran, VK Vismaya and Rezoana Mallick Heena, the Asian U-20 champion, were eliminated. Anjali (52.03) and Vithya (52.43) won their semifinal heats in style, and raised hopes of an exciting contest a few hours later.
The men’s 400m, won by Sri Lankan star Kalinga Kumarage in 45.64 seconds, was not as exciting but the Kerala duo of Muhammed Anas Yahiya (45.76) and Muhammed Ajmal (45.90) and Delhi’s Amoj Jacob (45.91) dipped in under 46 seconds. Anas Yahiya, in particular, caught the eye with a series of times that were his fastest since 2019.
Parul Chaudhary, who has spent time training with leading coach Scott Simmons in Colorado Springs in the United States of America, claimed the 3000m Steeplechase record from Sudha Singh. Despite having to run her own race, she produced her best effort on Indian soul, second only to the 9:29.51 she clocked in Los Angeles three weeks ago.
Madhya Pradesh’s KM Deeksha surprised Harmilan Bains (Punjab), the national-record holder, by breaking free of the trailing pack, staying abreast with her and shifting a gear to take the lead with 250m left in the 1500m race. Deeksha made the most of Harmilan coming into the competition on the back of an injury lay-off, and lowered her personal best from 4:14.02 to 4:06.07.
Andhra Pradesh’s Jyothi Yarraji, known for her exploits in the 100m Hurdles, won the 100m crown in 11.46 seconds to earn the Fastest Woman of the Meet title. Though she missed the Asian Games qualifying standard by a mere fourth-hundredths of a second, Jyothi broke the hearts of the local fans who were rooting for Srabani Nanda.
Tejashwin Shankar, trying his hand at the gruelling Decathlon with the hope of making it to the Asian Games squad, notched up 4209 points from five events on the first day. Barring the High Jump, he was trailing in all events in comparison to his sensational show in April, when he missed the national record by a mere 10 points.
The results (finals):
Men
100m: 1. B Siva Kumar (Tamil Nadu) 10.37 seconds; 2. Harjit Singh (Punjab) 10.45; 3. K Elakkiyadasan (Tamil Nadu) 10.47.
400m: 1. Kalinga Kumarage (Sri Lanka) 45.64 seconds; 2. Muhammed Anas Yahiya (Kerala) 45.76; 3. Muhammed Ajmal (Kerala) 45.90. (Note: By clocking 45.51 in the semifinals, Ajmal broke the Meet Record set at 45.56 by Paramjit Singh in Chennai in 2000).
800m: 1. Krishan Kumar (Haryana) 1:46.17; 2. Mohammed Afsal (Kerala) 1:47.47; 3. Pradeep Senthilkumar (Tamil Nadu) 1:48.10.
Discus Throw: 1. Kirpal Singh (Punjab) 57.39m; 2. Gagandeep Singh (Punjab) 55.69; 3. Nirbhay Singh (Haryana) 55.21.
3000m Steeplechase: 1. Balkishan (Haryana) 8:39.98; 2. Sumit Kumar (Delhi) 8:43.45; 3. Prince Raj Mishra (Sikkim) 8:44.55.
35km Race Walk: 1. Juned (Haryana) 3:00:37.00; 2. Eknath Sambhaji Turambekar (Maharashtra) 3:03:40.00; 3. Vikash Kumar Yadav (Rajasthan) 3:06:06.00.
Women
100m: 1. Jyothi Yarraji (Andhra Pradesh) 11.46 seconds; 2. Srabani Nanda (Odisha) 11.59; 3. Himashree Roy (Haryana) 11.71.
400m: 1. Anjali Devi (Haryana) 51.48 seconds; 2. Himanshi Malik (Haryana) 51.76; 3. R Vithya Ramaraj (Tamil Nadu) 52.49.
1500m: 1. KM Deeksha (Madhya Pradesh) 4:06.07 (New Meet Record. Old: 4:10.51, Sinimol Paulose, Chennai, 2006); 2. Harmilan Bains (Punjab) 4:08.50; 3. Chanda (Delhi) 4:09.39.
3000m Steeplechase: 1. Parul Chauhdary (Uttar Pradesh) 9:34.23 (New Meet Record. Old: 9:39.59, Sudha Singh, Guwahati, 2018); 2. Priti Lamba (Haryana) 9:52.89; 3. Komal Chandrakant Jagdale (Maharashtra) 10:13.10.
Triple Jump: 1. NV Sheena (Kerala) 13.60m; 2. Nayana James (Kerala) 13.33; 3. Mallala Anusha (Andhra Pradesh) 13.24.
Discus Throw: 1. Seema Punia (Uttar Pradesh) 56.50m; 2. Shalini Chaudhary (Madhya Pradesh) 48.66; 3. Kiran (Rajasthan) 48.25.
35km Race Walk: 1. Manju Rani (Punjab) 3:21:31.00; 2. Mamta Pal (Uttar Pradesh) 3:40:26.00; 3. Komal (Haryana) 3:42:41.00.
Mixed
4x400m Relay: 1. Tamil Nadu (Rajesh Ramesh, Subha Venkatesan, Baby S and Arul Rajalingam) 3:21.40; 2. Maharashtra 3:21.67; 3. Karnataka 3:21.88.