Gurindervir Singh of Punjab set the athletics track at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports in Patiala ablaze with a new meet record time of 10.27 seconds as he won the men’s 100m in the Fast&UP 60th National Inter-State Athletics Championships on Saturday.
S Dhanalakshmi (Tamil Nadu) confirmed her growing stature as India’s premier woman sprinter by handing Dutee Chand another defeat in the final.
The 20-year-old Gurindervir, who has held sway in the sprints in recent times, was quick off the blocks and found the pace and momentum to leave his team-mate Lovepreet Singh and the national record holder Amiya Kumar Mallick (Odisha ) fighting for silver and bronze.
With Hima Das pulling up injured after finishing third in heats in the morning, the women’s race was expected to be a clash featuring Dhanalakshmi and her more experienced team-mates Dutee Chand and Archana Suseendran as well as Sri Lanka’s Amasha de Silva. Dhanalakshmi powered away to a good victory in 11.52 seconds.
The sprinters shared the limelight with rising long jumper Shaili Singh (Uttar Pradesh). Preparing for the World Junior Athletics Championships, to be held in Kenya in August, she leapt to a career best distance of 6.48m to be among the world’s top ranked junior jumpers this year.
Also Read: Tokyo qualification still a possibility for men’s 4×400 relay team
At the same venue, national record holder Tejaswin Shankar cleared 2.20m effortlessly to win the men’s high jump. He made a game attempt to get the meet record by raising the bar to 2.26m after two unsuccessful jumps at 2.23m. He achieved his primary aim of raking up some points to move up the World Athletics Ranking with a win here.
Uttar Pradesh’s 19-year-old Usaid Khan won the gruelling decathlon competition with an all-round effort that fetched him 6893 points. He improved his showing in the Federation Cup in March when he had a 6820-point haul. S Gokul (Kerala) kept Gurlal Singh (Punjab) at bay in the race for the silver medal.
Results (Finals) Men
100m: 1. Gurindervir Singh (Punjab) 10.27 seconds (New Meet Record. Old: 10.32, Krishna Kumar Rane, Lucknow, 2014); 2. Lovepreet Singh (Punjab) 10.47; 3. Amiya Kumar Mallick (Odisha) 10.49.
400m Hurdles: 1. MP Jabir (Kerala) 49.78 seconds; 2. K Sathish (Tamil Nadu) 51.90; 3. Pravin Kumar (Tamil Nadu) 52.77.
High Jump: 1. Tejaswin Shankar (Delhi) 2.20m; 2. Geo Jos (Kerala) 2.15; 3. T Aromal (Kerala) 2.15.
Hammer Throw: 1. Damneet Singh (Punjab) 62.03m; 2. Niraj Kumar (Rajasthan) 60.28; 3. Ravi (Haryana) 57.92.
Decathlon: 1. Usaid Khan (Uttar Pradesh) 6893 points (100m: 11.21; LJ: 6.70; SP: 11.68; HJ: 1.77; 400m: 50.32; 110mH: 15.54; DT: 34.63; PV: 4.40; JT: 53.03; 1500m: 4:46.33); 2. S Gokul (Kerala) 6680; 3. Gurlal Singh (Punjab) 6428.
Women
100m: 1. S Dhanalakshmi (Tamil Nadu) 11.52 seconds; 2. Amasha de Silva (Sri Lanka) 11.59; 3. Archana Suseendran (Tamil Nadu) 11.60.
400m Hurdles: 1. VK Salini (Kerala) 1:01.63; 2. Khushdeep Kaur (Punjab) 1:04.52; 3. Nirmal Punia (Haryana) 1:05.68
Long Jump: 1. Shaili Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 6.48m; 2. A Sherin (Tamil Nadu) 6.26; 3. Renu (Haryana) 6.17.
Shot put: 1. Manpreet Kaur (Punjab) 16.95m; 2. Srishti Vig (Delhi) 15.96; 3. Kiran Baliyan (Uttar Pradesh) 15.75.
Also Read: Annu betters her national javelin record; falls short of Olympic qualification mark
