CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu's E Baranica exceeded expectations in Patiala on Sunday when she won gold in the women’s pole vault at the 60th National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Patiala. She achieved her personal best of 3.90m, bettering the mark of 3.80m she achieved in the All-India Inter-University meet back in 2018. It was a noteworthy improvement especially considering the lack of training that athletes have had in the run-up to the inter-state meet.
“It was an unexpected performance. I had only three training sessions before this event. I was maintaining my fitness at home during the lockdown. That has played a huge part in helping me achieve my best mark,” Baranica said on Sunday.
The 24-year-old, who hails from Mayiladuthurai, has been bogged down by injury in her brief career, with an ACL tear suffered in 2018 forcing her to undergo surgery and ruling her out of action for six months. Although she has recovered from the injury, she continues working hard on strengthening her left knee.
“I have been advised by doctors to keep doing exercises to strengthen my knee. The injury was on the left leg, which is the take-off leg for pole vault. Whenever I take a break from training due to lockdown for instance, I cannot directly get back into training like other athletes,” she informed.
With only three competitors in the fray, there was disappointment for TN’s P Rosy Meena as she finished third with a mark of just 3.30m. She had won gold at the Federation Cup in March with a distance of 3.90m and her coach R Milber felt that the absence of proper preparation had an adverse effect on the athlete.
“Rosy is disappointed with her performance. She seemed to be affected more than Baranica by the lack of training,” Milber said.
The results (finals): Men: 800m: 1. Krishan Kumar (Haryana) 1:50.15; 2. Anu Kumar (Uttarakhand) 1:51.05; 3. Manjit Singh (Haryana) 1:51.44; 5000m: 1. Kartik Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 14:42.76; 2. Adesh Yadav (Maharashtra) 14:45.45; 3. Arjun Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 15:01.21; 110m Hurdles: 1. Siddhant Thingalaya (Maharashtra) 14.11 seconds; 2. Mohammed Fais (Kerala) 14.34; 3. Amrinder Singh Aulakh (Punjab) 14.48; Triple Jump: 1. Eldhose Paul (Kerala) 16.58m; 2. Karthik Unnikrishnan (Kerala) 16.54; 3. Abdulla Aboobacker (Kerala) 16.37; Discus Throw: 1. Kirpal Singh (Punjab) 58.90m; 2. Harpreet Singh (Punjab) 57.73; 3. Gagandeep Singh (Punjab) 56.33.
Women: 800m: 1. Harmilan Bains (Punjab) 2:02.57; 2. Chanda (Delhi) 2:03.36; 3. Nimali Liyanaarachchi (Sri Lanka) 2:05.69; High Jump: 1. Angel P Devasia (Kerala) 1.65m; 2. Giji Geroge Stephen (Tamil Nadu) 1.60m; Pole Vault: 1. Baranica Elangoval (Tamil Nadu) 3.90m; 2. Babita Patel (Madhya Pradesh) 3.40; 3. Rosy Meena Paulraj (Tamil Nadu) 3.30; Heptathlon: 1. Sonu Kumari (Haryana) 5004 points, 2. Kajal (Haryana) 4740; 3. Madhu (Haryana) 4357.