CHENNAI: The rain-hit men's triple jump final saw an unlikely winner in Karthik Unnikrishnan of Kerala. His 16.44m leap earned him gold in the evening session on Day 3 of the 64th Senior National Inter-state Athletics Championship in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Friday.
The crowd which had gathered near the jump pits had not expected Karthik to pull off a surprise as he eclipsed both Abdulla Aboobacker and Praveen Chithravel in the final.
Aboobacker finished second with an effort of 16.37m while Chithravel took home bronze with an uncharacteristic 16.35m leap. As the pits got affected due to heavy rain, jumpers found it difficult to gain grip and to land on the damp sand. "Winning gold here was not the expectation, but I wanted to get a personal best leap. But, happy to win gold," Karthik told The New Indian Express.
As rain kept interfering with the proceedings in the final, the athletes were finding the conditions to be demanding. "Constantly having to warm-up after cooldowns was difficult. But my mind never changed. I still set out to match my personal best and try to win gold," Karthik said. The 32-year-old threw the kitchen sink in the sixth and final round and leaped 16.44 metres, piping both Aboobacker and Chithravel to second and third, respectively.
Meanwhile, India's fastest hurdler Tejas Shirse lived up to his name by clinching gold in the men's 110 metre hurdles.
However, his 13.60 seconds run in the final does not guarantee him a spot in the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Tokyo next month. So far, no Indian athlete has qualified for the Worlds via the direct qualification mark.
The national record holder initially stumbled in the first hurdle, but gained momentum in the next set of hurdles to breeze past his rivals. Despite conditions not offering much to the athletes, Tejas felt he could have done better. His effort was far from his season best of 13.51 seconds, which he recorded during the Meeting voor Mon athletics meet at Belgium on August 16.
His initial assessment of his run vindicated his hunger to qualify for the Worlds. "I could have qualified if I had a sub-13.5-second run here, cannot blame the conditions here," he told reporters.
He felt lack of competition in the national circuit has hindered his growth. "I have been running alone for the past three to four years. I would appreciate it if someone gives a tough fight out here. Even after I stumbled in the first hurdle, I don't think I saw anyone running past me. The difference in the competition has an impact on the way I run," he said.
Given that there was a Worlds ticket on the line, Tejas was operating with a stress injury and was in pain during his run. He is disappointed to have missed out on his ultimate goal. "With this run, I will be in the 41st ranking, but only 40 people enter the Worlds. So that is why I am disappointed," he said.
A clear picture of his world rankings would be known after the qualification period ends on Sunday, August 24, the same day when this meet concludes here.
Considering Tejas' tough season so far, his coach from Reliance High Performance Centre James Hillier was happy with his wards' effort on the day. "He is a resilient young man. He had dug deep mentally and physically to even compete here, let alone run 13.60 seconds and win gold, with the conditions and the resultant delay," James told The New Indian Express.
Hillier felt Tejas could have matched his personal best of 13.41 seconds (a National Record) had the conditions been better. "This looked like a 13.41 run to me. The conditions and delay did not make it easy. But there is no space to warm-up here, it is chaotic with so many people coming and going. This needs to be addressed with the authorities," he said.
Tejas, according to the coach, has all the elements of an 'elite athlete'. "The only thing that needs to be done is to give him opportunities. He missed out on the Asian Athletics Championships (in Gumi Korea in May 2025) because the selection is so difficult and he has no competition here."
Meet record
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu won the women's 4x100 metre relay in a tight contest against neighbours Karnataka. The sprint team of Pavithra R, Angel Silvia, Abinaya Rajarajan and Dhanalakshmi finished first by .4 seconds (44.73s). The Karnataka sprinters of Prakruthi Rao B, Daneswari T, V Sudeeksha and Sneha SS clocked 45.34s. Both the timings bettered the previous meet record set by Tamil Nadu in Patiala last year (45.40s).
In the men's relay, the Odisha team, led by national record holder in both 100m and 200m Animesh Kujur, Amiya Mallick, Lalu Prasad Bhoi and Sarun Payasingh won gold with a timing of 39.52 seconds, a meet record. They beat the Tamil Nadu team which was led by Tamil Arasu, Arun C, Varun Manohar and Ragul Kumar, who clocked 39.80 seconds..
Results (Winners only): Men: Triple jump: Kartik U (KL) 16.44m; 110mH: Tejas Shirse (MH) 13.60s; 20km racewalk: Bilin George Anto (KL): 1:29:35.12s; hammer throw: Damneet Singh 69.25m; 5000m: Abhishek Pal (UP) 15:00.83s; 4x100m Relay: Odisha, 39.5s (NMR). Women: 100mH: Moumita Mondal (WB): 13.22s; 20km racewalk: Ravina 1:35:13.49s, (meet record); 4x100m relay: Tamil Nadu: 44.73s (NMR). Mixed 4x400m relay: Karnataka 3:21.49.