Karnataka high jumper Sahana Kumari proved no match for her counterparts when she produced a jump of 1.88m, at the 53rd National Inter-State Senior Athletic Championships here on Wednesday. The athlete came agonisingly close to breaking the national and the meet records of 1.92m, that she had set last year. West Bengal’s Mallika Mondal cliched the silver, whereas Tintu N D of Kerala settled for the bronze.
Star runner, Tintu Luka set the track ablaze in the women’s 800m event. She clocked 2:04.14s, ahead of Tamil Nadu’s Gomthi and Sushma Devi of Haryana. Although, nowhere close to her best, she managed to grab the gold easily. Sanjeesh Joseph of Kerala took the top honours in the men’s event, with Manjit Singh of Punjab and Francis of Tamil Nadu taking silver and bronze respectively.
Ace quatermiler, Poovamma, stood up to expectations by winning women’s 400m, with a timing of 52.85s. She was closely followed by Nirmala from Haryana. In the men’s section, P Kunhumohammed of Kerala upstaged the Asian Grand Prix gold medalist, Arokia Rajiv. Kunhumohammed clocked 46.71s.
In the women’s 100m hurdles, Gayathry G from Tamil Nadu emerged winner, while in men’s 110m hurdles, Pinto Mathew tasted victory.
The surprise of the day came when Long jumper from Tamil Nadu, Premkumar, reached the 8m mark. Not many Indians have achieved this feat in the sandpit. Kerala is on top of the team championships table with 85.5 points.
Results in brief:
100 m Hurdles (W) - 1. Gayathry G (TN), 2. Hamasree J (TN), 3. Sajitha K V (Ker); 110 m Hurdles (M) - 1. Pinto Mathew (Ker) 2. Balamurugan (TN), 3. Sandeep Parmar (Mah); Shotput (W) - 1. P Udaya Laxmi (AP), 2. Neha Singh (MP), 3. Navjit Kaur (Pun); Shotput (M) - 1. Inderjeet Singh (Har), 2. Satyendra Singh (UP), 3. Om Prakash (Har); 400m (M) - 1. Kunhumohammed (Ker), 2. Neeraj Pawar (UP), 3. Arokiarajiv (TN); 400m (W), 1. Poovamma (Kar), 2. Nirmala (Har), 3. Anu Mariam Jose (Ker); 800m (M) - 1. Sajeesh Joseph (Ker), 2. Manjit Singh (Har), 3. Francis Sagayakaj (TN); 800m (W) - 1. Tintu Luka (Ker), 2. Gomathi (TN), 3. Sushma Devi (Har); Mens Decthalon - 1. Bhartainder (Har), 2. Daya Ram (Raj), 3. K Dilip Kumar (Mah).