Athletics, India: National marks
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Narrowly missing a medal
(See also The Olympics: IndiaI
HEART BREAKS
The Times of India Sep 24 2014
Saurav Ghosal narrowly missed out on winning the gold medal in squash for India (Asiad 2014). TOI takes a look at other occasions where Indian athletes faltered on the doorstep of glory
WOMEN'S 800M, 1986 SEOUL ASIAD
SHINY ABRAHAM'S lane change
Shiny Abraham had just completed her 800m race, way ahead of her competitors. But she was aghast when the race officials announced that she had disqualified. Her fault: She had changed her lane a bit too early in the race. Shiny's mistake had cost India a gold.
She, however, managed to win a silver in another event 400m behind PT Usha. In all, India finished with nine medals in athletics events in Seoul including four gold.
WOMEN'S ARCHERY GUANGZHOU 2010
INDIVIDUAL BRONZE MEDAL PLAYOFF,
DEEPIKA KUMARI'S 2-6 loss against Kwon-un Sil of Korea India have won very few medals in archery and none in the women's individual category so far. Deepika Kumari came tantalisingly close to bag one when she made it to the play-off in the individual event in Guangzhou. She cruised through the first few rounds before losing to eventual winner Yun Ok-hee of Korea. She missed a medal narrowly as she lost to Kwon-un Sil in the bronze medal playoff. There was some consolation for her though, as she teamed up with Dola Banerjee and Rimil Buriuly to claim the bronze in the women's team event.
WOMEN'S TENNIS, 2006 DOHA ASIAD
SINGLES FINAL
SANIA MIRZA 4-6, 6-1, 1-6 loss against Zheng Jie of China She was in top form, having won her group stage matches and the quarterfinal in straight sets. In the semifinal, she beat the then Asian No.1 and top seed Li Na 6-2, 6-2 to book a final berth against Zheng Jie, also of China. Sania started tentatively to lose the first set, but bounced back to draw parity with a 6-1 win in the second. But the scorching heat took its toll as the Indian struggled in the third to lose the match and a chance to win a historic gold for the country. She had her moments to rejoice, however, when hours later she returned to the court with Leander Paes to win the mixed doubles gold medal.
MEN'S 10M AIR PISTOL, INCHEON 2014
TEAM EVENT
INDIA LOSE silver to China by a whisker India and China were level on points after the final in the men's 10m Air Pistol event. Rai (585 points), Samaresh Jung (580) and Prakash Nanjappa (578) took India's score to 1743 points, the same as China. The silver was decided by the number of Xs (bullseye) in which China tallied one more 65 to India's 64.
MEN'S HOCKEY FINAL, 2002 BUSAN GAMES
INDIA'S 3-4 loss against Korea India had it easy in the group stage, winning their first two matches comfortably. The semi-final against Pakistan was a close one, but India held their nerve to advance. However, in the final, nothing seemed to go right for India in they conceded three goals. But things started to change as they pumped in three goals in five minutes. Even though the scores were level at that time, India clearly had the upper hand. But just as they were getting closer to a historic win, Korea scored in the 68th minute to pour water on Indian hopes.
National marks
100m
100m: men
The Times of India, April 29, 2016
10.26 sec : AmiyaMallick. It was heartbreak for Mallick. An extraordinary day for the athlete from Odisha was spoiled due to apulled muscle during the semifinals. Such was his form that he set a new meet record in the heats with 10.35 in the morning before improving the timings to 10.26 sec to set a national record in the semifinals despite pulling a muscle during the race.The injury affected his performance in the final as he finished fourth at 10.51.The earlier record was jointly held by AN Quereshi and Anil Kumar at 10.30.The qualification mark for Rio Games for men 10.16 secs.
100m: women
11.29 sec / 2018: Dutee Chand, age 22 (By way of comparison, the gold medal winners in the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games had clocked 11.33 and 11.48 respectively.)
Previous: 11.33 Sec/ 2016 Odisha sprinter Dutee Chand, then age 20, set a new national record in in the Federation Cup athletics in 2016. Dutee, who has had her share of upheavals in the past, having to fight her way back to the track after winning a court case against the international body (IAAF) following her ouster from the sport due to a hyperandrogenism charge, missed out an Olympic berth by a 100th of a second. The 11.33 seconds that she returned was enough to eclipse the existing record of 11.38 secs set by Rachita Mistry in 2000. The qualification mark for the Rio Olympic Games for women was 11.32 secs
200m
Men
National record: 20.45 seconds: Dharambir Singh (at the fourth Indian GP, Bengaluru, 2016). The previous national record was also by Dharambir Singh: 20.66s (Asian meet in Wuhan, China, 2015). Dharambir has served a two-year ban for doping in 2012.
400m
Women
Hima Das 51.46s in 2018
The 18-year-old from Assam, who had clocked the fastest times in the two earlier rounds at Tampere, once again produced a strong finish to bring the historic gold in 51.46s.
India’s long wait for a track gold at an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships is over. Hima Das, who virtually went into the final as the top seed, lived up to that billing taking the women’s 400m gold at the world under-20 athletics championships at Tampere (Finland) on Thursday.
The 18-year-old from Assam, who had clocked the fastest times in the two earlier rounds at Tampere, once again produced a strong finish to bring the historic gold in 51.46s.
She was slightly behind around the 300m but as the others appeared to fade away, Hima – who personal best stands at 51.13s, proved that she had enough gas in the tank to take the medal that mattered.
Two years ago, when javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra stunned the country by winning the under-20 World in Poland, nobody had an inkling that a track gold was just one edition away.
But Hima is no stranger to the big stage. Around this time last year, she took the fifth spot in the 200m at the Youth Worlds in Nairobi. And she was sixth in the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast in April.
Sreeshankar sixth
Kerala’s junior national record holder M. Sreeshankar, who went into the men’s long jump as the world’s fourth best junior jumper this year with his personal best 7.99m, finished sixth on Wednesday night with 7.75m, which came in his second attempt.
Japan’s Yuki Hashioka won the gold with 8.03m and he was the only jumper to cross 8m. Cuban Maikal Y. Vidal, the world leader, took the silver with 7.94m.
Later, Indonesia’s Lalu Muhammed Zohri pulled off a huge surprise, winning the men’s 100m for his country’s first-ever gold at the under-20 Worlds. Running in the eighth lane, Lalu, also the Asian junior champion, clocked 10.18s and emerged as the fastest man.
Hima’s coach Nipon Das, who has been a mentor to the rookie since spotting her in January last year, said her confidence was the key to her success.
“She does not get overawed by anybody and does not care about her opponents. In every race, her goal is to beat the best with better timing,” Nipon told The Hindu.
“Monjai [I wanted this],” Hima had revealed after the race. Nipon pointed out that it was not easy to beat Nirmala, who was six-seven meters ahead in the home stretch.
4x400m relay
Men
3 minutes, 00.91 seconds (2016)
3:02.17 also (2016)
Jul 11 2016 : The Times of India (Delhi) Biju BabuCyriac Bengaluru:
None of the Indian athletes managed to meet the Olympic qualification marks in individual events on Sunday but the men's and women's 4x400m relay squads came up with two stunning performances as they almost booked their berths for the Rio Games in the 3rd Indian Grand Prix here.
Anchored by Arokia Rajiv, the men's quartet, trained by Ukrainian coach Yuri Ogorodnik and also comprising Kunhu Mohammed, Mohammed Anas and A Dharun clocked 3 minutes, 00.91 seconds that shaved off almost two seconds from the the national record time of 3:02.17 set by the same squad in Turkey last month. The new time, clocked with Maldives as the second international team, helped India jump from 18th to 13th spot in the world ranking list. The top-16 nations will make the cut based on the July 12 ranking list.
Rajiv, the 400m bronze winner at the Incheon Asian Games.
The quartet, bettered the 18-year-old [1998?] mark in Turkey .
Women
3:27.88s 2016)
2016: The women's 4x400m relay squad, who are already in the mix for a Rio berth, enhanced their chances with a winning time of 3:27.88s. The team comprising Nirmala, Tintu Luka, MR Poovamma and Anilda Thomas reclaimed the 12th spot in the ranking list after dropping down to 14th on Sunday morning.
800m
Men
National record: Jinson Johnson 1:45.65s (June 2018: National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships in Guwahati)
Sriram Singh: 1:45.77s, July 25, 1976 (Montreal Olympics in 1976)
Jinson Johnson 1:45.98s (at the fourth Indian GP, Bengaluru, 2016). His previous personal best was 1:46.43s at Hyderabad, 2016.
10,000m
Murali 2nd fastest Indian
Murali 2nd fastest Indian in 10,000m, June 13, 2018: The Times of India
Young long distance runner Gavit Murali Kumar bagged a gold in men’s 10,000m race at the Gouden Spike meeting in Leiden, Netherlands to become the second fastest Indian in this event as the country’s track and field athletes continued their build-up for the upcoming Asian Games.
The 21-year-old Kumar, a bright talent from Gujarat, clocked a personal best of 28 minute 43.34 seconds, the best by an Indian in the ongoing season. Current long-distance coach Surendra Singh, who holds the national record of 28:02.89s, has run faster than him on four occasions.
Kumar’s earlier best was 29:33.85 during the Federation Cup in Patiala in March. The men’s 10,000m bronze medal winner in the 2014 Asiad had clocked 28:45.65.
The Gouden Spike is one of the top meetings in The Netherlands. Its current European Athletics status is Outdoor Meetings with National Per mit.
In Poland, Hima Das clocked a personal best of 23.22 in the 200m.
High jump
Men
2.26m: set by Tejaswin Shankar of Delhi, age 17, at the National Junior Athletics meet, Coimbatore, 2016.
2.25m: set by Harishankar Roy of West Bengal at Asian All-Stars meet in Singapore in 2004.
Junior men
2.26m: set by Tejaswin Shankar of Delhi, age 17, at the National Junior Athletics meet, Coimbatore, 2016.
2.17m: set by S Harshith of Karnataka in 2011.
Long jump
Men
8.20m: M Sreeshankar, 2018
8.19m: Ankit Sharma
Women
National record: 6.83m, Anju Bobby George.
Second best: 6.66m, Neena V (at the fourth Indian GP, Bengaluru, 2016).
National Open Athletics Championships
Sreeshankar breaks long jump record
Sam Chakraborty, September 28, 2018: The Times of India
Gavit Wins His Second Gold In National Athletics
M Sreeshankar finished sixth during the recently-concluded Asian Games in Jakarta and few expected the long jumper to script a recordshattering feat at the 58th National Open Athletics Championships here on Thursday. The 19-year-old had other ideas, though. Under lights, the Kerala athlete produced a stunning jump of 8.20m to break Ankit Sharma’s national record of 8.19m. The clinching jump came in his fifth attempt.
Giving him company on the podium was Services’ Jinesh Vo, who jumped 7.95m while Sahil Mahabali of Haryana finished third with a jump of 7.81m.
Railways discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur, too, eked out a performance that would be remembered for a long time. With three of her five attempts declared foul because of overstepping, Kaur’s sixth and final throw was her chance at redemption and she grabbed it with both hands. Kaur’s last throw went as far as 56.11m and brought her the coveted gold medal. Navjeet Kaur Dhillon and Sandeep Kumari ensured a clean sweep for the Railways as they won silver and bronze medals, respectively. While Dhillon threw 54.84m, Kumari recorded a throw of 53.96m.
Karnataka’s Khyati Vakharia had set her sights on breaking the national and meet record in pole vault which stood in the name of VS Surekha at a height of 4.15m. While the 29 year-old did muster a height of 4.00m to land the gold, she failed in three consecutive attempts to hit the 4.05m mark that would have allowed her to try further. Krishna Rachan of Railways gave her a good fight to finish with silver at 3.95m while Vakharia’s teammate Maria Jaison clinched bronze with 3.70m.
Gujarat’s Murlikumar Gavit, who had won gold in the 10,000m men’s final, won his second gold in men’s 5000m as he crossed the line in 14:35.96 seconds. Composed and alert, Gavit produced another stellar performance to win comfortably.
Marathon
Thonakal first Indian man to win Asian Marathon
Runner Gopi makes history, November 27, 2017: The Times of India
Becomes 1st Indian Man To Win Asian Marathon Title
Gopi Thonakal became the first Indian man to win Asian Marathon Championship after he achieved the feat in the 16th edition of the prestigious event here in China Thonakal clocked 2 hours, 15 minutes and 48 seconds to clinch the gold. Andrey Petrov of Uzbekistan bagged the silver with a timing of 2:15:51s, while Byambalev Tseveenravdan of Mongolia won bronze by clocking 2:16:14s.
The 29-year-old from Kerala had won the New Delhi Marathon in 2.15.37 earlier this year. He was 28th in the London World Championships in August with a timing of 2:17:13. In the Rio Olympics last year, he had clockedhis personal bestof 2.15.25 while finishing 25th.
“I am proud to have won a gold for my country. I am also proud to become the first Indian man to have won a gold in this championship,” Thonakal said after the race.
Thonakal is the third Indian overall to have won a gold in the event. Asha Agarwal won the women’s title in 1985 when the event was a part of the biennial Asian Track and Field Championships. Sunita Godara won the women’s title in 1992 after the event was moved out as a separate one away from the Asian Athletics Championships in 1988.
Steeplechase
Men: 3000m
2018: Services’ 24 year-old Sable Avinash: 08:29.80 seconds
1981: Gopal Saini’s national record of 08:30.88
Women
2016 Aug: Lalita Babar (9 minutes, 19.76 seconds) clipped nearly seven seconds off Sudha’s record to create a new national record at the Rio Olympics .
2016 May: Sudha Singh (9:26.55) set a new national mark in Shanghai.
2016 April: Lalita Babar clocked 9:27.09 at Delhi in the Federation Cup in, which was the then national mark.
Triple jump
Men
National record: 17.30m: Renjith Maheswary (at the fourth Indian GP, Bengaluru, 2016). It was Renjith's third time above the 17m mark and the first after his bronze medal winning leap of 17.07m at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
Previous national record Arpinder Singh: 17.17m in 2014.
Year-wise performance
2016
Asian Indoor Athletics Championships
The Times of India, Feb 21 2016 Long jumper Mayook ha Johny fetched India a gold medal while sprinter Dutee Chand settled for a bronze af ter shattering national re cord in 60m dash in the Asian Indoor Athletics Champions hips. Mayookha controlled the long jump competition from the very outset and finished on top of the podium with a le ap of 6.35m, an effort that pro pelled her to India's first Asi an indoor title in the event Bui Thi Thu Thao of Vietnam took the silver with a 6.30m jump while Olga Rypakova o Kazakhstan finished third with an effort of 6.22m.
“Winning in Doha made me really happy , especially since I'm not used to competing indoors.
However, I expected something better than 6.35m. But I'm not complaining at all. The Asian title is quite an achievement,“ said Mayookha after winning the gold.
Another Indian, M A Prajusha finished fifth with a jump of 6.15m.
Dutee, meanwhile, won a bronze in women's 60m dash with a time of 7.37 secs in the final.
Earlier, she had set a na tional record while winning her heats in 7.28 secs. Viktoriya Zyabkina of Kazakhstan overcame a sluggish start to win the final race in a Championship record of 7.27 secs, well clear of China's Yuan Qi qi (7.33 secs). Sugandha Kumari brought the third medal for India as she won a bronze in women's 1500m with a time of 4:29.06.
In women's shot put, Manpreet Kaur (Jr) finished sixth with her best throw of 15.21m.
In men's high jump, Tejaswin Shankar failed to clear the opening height.
In women's pentathlon, Swapna Burman was at second spot after three events with 3285 points. She finished second in the first event of 60m hurdles, clocking 8.85 secs. She then finished third in shot put with a best throw of 11.38m before clearing 5.74m in long jump.
7 gold medals ensure Indian athletes a third place finish at 17th Asian Junior Championships
Representational Image (Getty Images)
Mon, 6 Jun 2016-11:59pm , PTI
The Indian contingent returns home with a haul of 17 medals in total.
Indian athletes ended their campaign in the 17th Asian Junior Championships at a creditable third position with a rich haul of 17 medals, including seven gold, at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Monday.
The Indians bagged 7 gold, 4 silver and 6 bronze to finish behind Japan (14 gold) and China (11 gold).
India had finished fifth in the previous edition held in Chinese Taipei in 2014 with 12 medals (2 gold, 6 silver and 4 bronze). The Indians seemed to save their best for the last day as they bagged 3 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze.
3rd at Asian Junior Championships
The Times of India, June 8, 2016
Lily Das and Jisna Matthew grabbed their second gold medals of the Championships. 17-year-old Lily Das from West Bengal clocked 2:06.64sec to win the women's 800m, to add to her gold in her favourite event of 1500m.
The icing on the cake came from the women's 4x400m relay quartet who struck the last gold for India with P T Usha's protege Jisna Mathew anchoring the team to the top spot. The Indians were lagging behind with some distance to go in the race before The women's relay quarter of Jisna, Shaharbana Shidiqui Thadian Parambil, V Subha and George Linet clocked 3:43.57sec to take the top honours.
Rio aspirant Neeraj Chopra won the silver in men's javelin with a best throw of 77.60 metres, behind Japan's Sado Juniya (77.97m).
The Indian men's 4x400m relay team, comprising Kiran Murugan, Pankaj Malik, Harsh Kumar and Amoj Jacob finished with a silver, clocking 3:12.12sec, behind Thailand's 3:11.59.
In the men's 10,000m race, Abhishek Pal bagged the silver with a timing of 31:24.06sec while compatriot Kishen Narsi Tadvi took the bronze by clocking 32:07.12sec. Sonu Kumar added a bronze medal in men's triple jump with a performance of 15.99 metres.
2016: Taiwan Open Athletics Championships
The Times of India, May 21, 2016
Dutee bags second gold, but is still searching for Rio berth
Dutee Chand bagged her second gold by winning the women's 200m race in a clean sweep of medals by the Indians in the Taiwan Open Athletics Championships here on Friday. Dutee clocked 23.52secs in the 200m sprint final to win the gold while compatriots Srabani Nanda and HM Jyothi picked up the silver and bronze in 23.55secs and 23.92secs respectively. The trio were part of the Indian quartet that set a national record in women's 4x100m relay at the IAAF World Challenge in Beijing on May 18 2016.
2018
Asian Junior Athletics Championships
Days 1, 2: two gold, one silver, seven bronze
Jisna clinches gold; Sreesankar wins bronze, June 9, 2018: The Times of India
Quartermiler Jisna Matthew clinched a gold to lead India’s medal charge on the second day of the Asian Junior Athletics Championships on Friday. Five other Indian athletes also grabbed a bronze each as India took their total medal tally to two gold, one silver and seven bronze.
Mathew, the defending champion, clocked 53.26 seconds in the women’s 400m final race to finish well ahead of Dilshi Kumarasinghe of Sri Lanka who clocked 54.03 seconds. Mathew, who has a personal best of 52.65 secs, has already won a senior Asian bronze as well as a gold in the 4x400m relay. She was also part of the Indian women’s 4x400m relay teams at the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2017 World Championships in London.
Junior national record holder, long jumper M Sreeshankar did not come close to matching his personal best of 7.99m but still clinched a bronze after clearing a distance of 7.47m. Sreeshankar, who nearly touched the 8m mark at the Federation Cup in Patiala in March, was named in India’s Gold Coast Commonwealth Games team but had to undergo a surgery to remove his appendicitis just before the CWG. Shot putter Ajay Bhalothia also won bronze. While Bhalothia fell short of his personal best of 18.53m, it took a career high effort from high jumper Abhinaya Sudhakara Shetty to step on the podium. Shetty cleared 1.75m to claim bronze.
India no.3 in medals
Two gold on the final day lift India to third, June 11, 2018: The Times of India
India clinched four medals, including two golds, on the last day of competitions at the Junior Asian Athletics Championships to finish third in the medal standings, here on Sunday. Kamalraj Kanagaraj and Ajit Kumar won gold medals in the men’s triple jump and 5000m respectively while the women’s 4x400m relay team claimed a silver. Jisna Mathew took home her second individual medal and third overall of the championships with a bronze in women’s 200m race.
India bagged 17 medals -- five gold, two silver and 10 bronze -- in the four-day championships to finish third behind Japan (14 gold, 15 silver, 13 bronze) and China (11 gold, 8 silver, 4 bronze).
With a personal best of 16.41m, and coming off a gold medal winning effort of 16.05m at the Junior South Asian Championships last month, 19-year-old Kamalraj was expected to perform well at the Asian Junior Championships.
Those hopes nearly faded after he suffered an injury scare and walked away from the competition due to an ankle pain developed after his third attempt at the Gifu Nagaragawa Stadium.
However, his first jump of 15.75m turned out to be more than enough to seal victory. Korea’s Gyumin Yu and Japan’s Syunsuke Izumiya took the silver and bronze respectively with efforts of 15.56m and 15.47m.
While Kamalraj’s gold came despite less than optimum showing, compatriot Ajit Kumar produced a personal best to win the men’s 5000m race. The Allahabad-based athlete clocked 14:15.24s to grab the gold while also improving on his previous best time of 14:38.10s recorded at the Federation Cup in Patiala in March.
Chitra finishes fourth, Jinson seventh
September 9, 2018: The Times of India
PU Chitra finished a creditable fourth in women’s 1500m race while Jinson Johnson ended seventh in men’s 800m on the first day of the IAAF Continental Cup here on Saturday.
Chitra, who had won a bronze in the just-concluded Asian Games, crossed the finishing line in the fourth place with a time of 4 minute 18.45 seconds in the eight-woman field. She had clocked 4:12.56 in Jakarta.
Winny Chebet of Kenya emerged as the winner in a time of 4:16.01 while Shelby Houlihan (4:16.36) of United States and Rababe Arafi (4:17.19) of Morocco took the silver and bronze respectively.
In men's 800m, national record holder Johnson clocked 1:48.44 to end at seventh in the race won by Emmanuel Kipkurui Korir of Kenya who ran 1:46.50.
IAAF Continental Cup
Arpinder wins medal; Neeraj falters
Arpinder first Indian to win medal; Neeraj falters, September 9, 2018: The Times of India
Triple jumper Arpinder Singh on Sunday created history by becoming the first Indian to win a medal in the IAAF Continental Cup as he clinched a bronze but star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra finished sixth with a below-par show here.
Arpinder, who won the gold in the recent Asian Games, cleared a modest 16.59m in the first of his three jumps to be in the four-man semifinals. He could only clear a 16.33m jump in his next attempt to miss out on the two-man final jump. Nonetheless, he collected a bronze. No Indian has ever won a medal in the Continental Cup which was known as the IAAF World Cup before 2010.
In men’s javelin throw, reigning Asian Games champion Chopra finished a disappointing sixth in the eightman field with a best of 80.24m from his three throws. Chopra began with 80.24m and then could only clear 79.76m in his second attempt. His third throw was a foul attempt. This was Chopra's worst international performance this season. He had a 80.81m in the Eugene leg of the Diamond League Series.
Reigning Olympic and world champion Christian Taylor took the gold with a jump of 17.59m, which is one metre more than the best effort of Arpinder.
National Open Athletics Championships
Sam Chakraborty, Avinash breaks 37-year-old record, September 29, 2018: The Times of India
Sinks Saini’s Mark At The Nationals
Services’ Sable Avinash created a new national record in men’s 3000m steeplechase here at Kalinga Stadium on Friday, the final day of the 58th National Open Athletics Championships.
Putting on a sublime show, the 24 year-old crossed the finishing line in 08:29.80 seconds to win gold and erase Gopal Saini’s national record of 08:30.88, which had stood since 1981. Rakesh Kumar Swami and Durga Bahadur Budha made it a clean sweep for Services as they won silver and bronze, respectively. While the former came in at 08:47.31, Budha clocked 08:48.29. A difference of 18 seconds clearly highlighting Avinash’s dominance.
Competing in men’s 400m hurdles Dharun Ayyasamy, the Asian Games silver medallist, owned the stage. His show not only fetched him the gold medal with a timing of 49:67 seconds but also helped him eclipse the previous meet record of 50.16 seconds held by Chennai’s Santhosh Kumar T. Dharun’s performance is all the more praiseworthy when you consider that he had not practised for 25 days after his feats in Jakarta. He confessed after the race that he did not want to stretch himself too much at this season-ending event.
Dharun, however, was not the only one who broke a meet record. Services’ MP Jaibir, too, went beyond Santhosh’s timing to clock 50.02 seconds, managing silver. Railways’ Jashanjot Singh won bronze with a timing of 50.25 to bag bronze.
Arpinder Singh, too, did not disappoint in men’s triple jump with a jump of 16.62m, in his second attempt, to grab gold for ONGC. D Arivu Selvam won silver with 16.22m while Punjab’s Navjot Singh, despite his tireless attempt to get past Arpinder’s mark, could only muster a distance of 16.06m in his fifth jump to clinch bronze. Having bagged the No. 1 spot within the three regulation jumps, Arpinder preferred to sit out as the other participants toiled hard to better his mark.
The Asiad gold-medallist decided not to push for the meet or national record. In women’s hammer throw final, Sarita Singh clinched gold for the Railways with a throw of 59.84m while teammate Jyoti bagged silver with 56.04m. Haryana’s Poonam Devi jumped 55.81m to claim the bronze medal.
South Asian Junior Athletics
Day One
India wins 11 gold on opening day, May 6, 2018: The Times of India
Indians dominated the proceedings on day one of the South Asian Junior Athletics Championships, winning 11 gold, 10 silver and three bronze to occupy top spot in the medal tally here on Saturday. Arshdeep Singh provided India the first gold medal of the day in the junior men’s javelin throw event with an effort of 71.47m, a new meet record.
A new meet record was also registered in the junior women’s shot put event by India’s Kiran Baliyan who won the gold with a 14.77m throw. Later in the day, Indian juniors also created new meet records in the men’s long jump, women’s 100m hurdles and 1500m events. Lokesh Sathyanathan
(7.74m) won the gold for India in the long jump final while in 100m hurdles Sapna Kumari bagged the gold with a timing of 14.19s.
Overall: Ind 1st, SL 2, Pak 3, BD 4, Maldives 5
Manoj SS, May 6, 2018: The Times of India
HIGHLIGHTS
Indian junior athletes bagged 20 gold, 22 silver and eight bronze medals
They also created new meet records in the men's long jump, triple jump, women's triple jump, 100m hurdles
Hosts Sri Lanka (12-10-19) and Pakistan (0-1-1) took second and third positions
Indian junior athletes clinched overall title in the 3rd South Asian Junior Athletics Championships (SAJAC) which concluded at Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday. At the end of two-day meet, they bagged 20 gold, 22 silver and eight bronze medals to put India on top of the medals table. Hosts Sri Lanka (12-10-19) and Pakistan (0-1-1) took second and third positions.
Bangladesh (two bronze medals), Maldives (one bronze medal), Nepal, Bhutan were the other competing countries.
Indians also created new meet records in the men's long jump, triple jump, women's triple jump, 100m hurdles, javelin throw and 1500m events.
Kamalraj Kanagraj set new meet record in boys triple jump with a leap of 16.05m. The old record was 15.96m while Ashutosh Chouhan (15.37m) made it 1-2 for India. In girls event, Priyadarshini Suresh set a new meet record in triple jump with a distance of 12.90m while in javelin throw Sanjana Choudhary (48.08) also set a meet record.
Ajay Kumar Bind (boy's 5000m gold, 15:08.40s); Poonam Dinkar Sonune (girls 3000m gold, 9:50.21) were some of the other gold medal winners.
Arshdeep Singh provided India the first gold medal on the first day in the junior boy's javelin throw event with an effort of 71.47m, a new meet record. Sri Lankan duo of Prasanna Ranawaka (61.71m) and Anjana Fonseka (60.47m) won silver and bronze respectively.
A new meet record was also registered in the junior women's shot put event by India's Kiran Baliyan who won the gold with a 14.77m throw. India also grabbed the silver medal in this event through Anamika Das's 14.54m effort while Sri Lanka's Sarisha Gunasekara (11.51m) won the bronze.
Kerala athletes Mohammed Fias and Abigail Arokianathan brought home silver medals in boys 110m hurdles and girls 400m hurdles, respectively.
Lokesh Sathyanathan (7.74m) won the gold for India in the long jump final while in 100m hurdles Sapna Kumari bagged the gold with a timing of 14.19s. Durga Deore clocked 4:31.38 in 1500m to add one more gold to India's tally.
In the 4x100m relay races, Indian junior men won gold while the women's team settlesd for silver medal.
Other important Indian medallists:
Junior girls: Nanhi (400mH, 1:02.06s)Punitha Ramasamy (gold, long jump, 5.95m), Ajay (gold, discus throw, 50.11m), Ashish Bhalothia (bronze, discus throw, 46.52m), Pragyan Sahu (silver, 100m hurdles, 14.98s), Chaitrali Gujar (silver, 100m, 12.24s), Subha Venkatesan (silver, 400m, 55.18s), Rachna Gujar (bronze, 400m, 55.70s), Poonam Sonune (silver, 1500m, 4:36.65), Abigail Arokianathan (silver, 400m hurdles 1:02.45s), Abhinaya sudhakara Shetty (bronze, high jump, 1.69m), silver in 4x400m
Junior boys: Ashish Bhalothia (gold shot put, 18.53m, NMR, OMR, 17.89m Shakti Solanki), Sahib Singh (silver. shot but. 17.75m) Gurjeet Singh (silver, high jump, 2.00m), Rishabh Rishiwar (silver, long jump, 7.43m), Kunal Choudhary (gold, 110m hurdles, 14.50s), Mohammed Fias (silver, 110m hurdles, 14.55s), Prajwal Ravi (gold, 100m, 10.81s), Akash Kumar (bronze, 100m, 10.89s), Ankit (gold, 1500m, 3:51.52), Ajit Kumar (3:53.45, Aman (silver, 400mH, 52.56s BMR, OMR 52.91s Jithin Paul in 2007), Dhval Mahesh U (53.35s), silver in 4x400m, Nithin S Balakumar (silver, 200m, 21.63s), Alkash kumar (bornze 200m, 21.86m).
Women: Hima first Indian woman to win gold at Under-20
July 13, 2018: The Times of India
Hima Das scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to win a gold at the IAAF World Under-20 Athletics Championships as she clinched the top spot in the women’s 400m final race on the third day of competitions here.
The 18-year-old Das clocked 51.46s to win the gold. She now joins the illustrious company of javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who won a gold in Poland in the last edition in 2016 in a world record effort. In fact, Das is the first Indian track athlete to have won a medal in the history of this competition. The previous medal winners at the World Junior Championships were Seema Punia (bronze in discus in 2002) and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon (bronze in discus in 2014).
Das was a favourite to win gold as she is the U-20 season leader in this quarter-mile event. She clocked an Indian U-20 record of 51.32 sec to finish sixth in Gold Coast CWG.
