CHENNAI: Pole vaulter Dev Meena from Madhya Pradesh climbed new heights at the National Federation Senior Athletics Competition here on Tuesday. Clinching the gold after easing past 5.35m, Meena has re-written his own national record of 5.32m set in Dehradun in February this year.
However, despite creating a national record, Meena was disappointed for not attaining the Asian Championships qualifying norm, missing it by just 0.16m set by the Athletics Federation of India. “I am slightly disappointed that I couldn’t make the cut for the championship. But beyond that, I was concerned of a potential injury if I pushed forth and stopped here as my coach suggested,” Meena told reporters.
Day 2 was also a showdown for quartermilers in both women and men's categories. Rupal Chaudhary of Uttar Pradesh and Vishal T K of Tamil Nadu bagged gold. Rupal clocked 52.55s, while Vishal 46.19s.
There was a slight drizzle when the six of the eight finalists in women’s 400m breached the 53.80 mark set for Asian meet qualification. Just like her gold in Indian Open last month, Rupal with her quick strides, took the lead from Vithya Ramraj of Tamil Nadu who led in the initial 200m. Kerala’s Sneha K, finished third. In 400m men’s Jay Kumar of Delhi clinched silver and Manu TS of Kerala settled for bronze. National record holder Mohammad Anas Yahiya, who finished first in heats 1 on Monday withdrew before the semi finals of the competition and Amoj Jacob, former Asian champion who was also a favourite did not start in the finals. Amoj pulled out during the final stretch at the Indian Open Athletics held in Chennai last week, while Mohammad Anas did not start in the final.
In 110m hurdles men, 2023 champion and national record holder Tejas Shirse of Maharashtra finished first with a timing of 13.65s, while in women’s 100m hurdles, national record holder Jyothi Yarraji won gold and secured her spot in the Asian championship touching the finish line at 13.23s.
In an intense and long competition, David P of Tamil Nadu won gold in men’s long jump pushing defending champion and national record holder Jeswin Aldrin to second spot. The 23-year-old from Salem is making a comeback after a long injury break. In his second competition, David hit the 7.94m in his fourth attempt. “I thought I would qualify and also break the meet record in this competition but I couldn’t as two of my best jumps over 8 meters were fouls. I will try again in the Indian Grand Prix in Thiruvananthapuram on May 8,” he said. “Last year was full of injuries and I even had a semi-tendon injury this January, the comeback was only possible because of intense support from my coach Keerthy Thiwari,” he added.
In women’s discus throw, Seema, representing JSW won the gold and qualified for the Asian championship and Nirbhay Singh of Haryana won the gold in men’s. Sarvesh Anil Kushare of Maharashtra won the gold in men’s high jump, jumping 58.13m. In men’s Long Jump, David P of Tamil Nadu won the gold, leaving national record holder Jeswin Aldin in second place. In women’s heptathlon, Agasara Nandini of Telangana won the gold with 5813 points.
Results: Men: 400m (Asian Q time 45.36s): Vishal TK (TN) 46.19s, Jay Kumar (Del) 46.33s, Manu TS (Ker) 46.39s; pole vault (Asian Q 5.51m): Dev Meena (MP) 5.35m (NR), M Gowtham (TN) 5.15m, Reegan G (TN) 5.10m; Discus (Asian Q 59.63m): Nirbhay Singh (Har) 58.13m, Abhimanyu (JSW) 55.11m, Bhartpreet Singh (Rel) 53.79m; high jump (Asian Q 2.23m): Sarvesh Kushare (Mah) 2.26m, Swadhin Kr Majhi (Odi) 2.14m, Bharath Raj B (Ker) 2.14m; long jump (Asian Q 8.07m): David P (TN) 7:94m, Jeswin Aldrin (Rel) 7.83m, Muhammed Anees (Rel) 7.70m; 110m hurdles (Asian Q 13.56s): Tejas Shirse (Mah) 13.65s, Manav R (Railways) 13.94s, Muhammed Lazan VK (JSW) 14.17s.
Women: 400m (Asian Q 53.80s): Rupal Chaudhary (UP) 52.55s, Vithya Ramraj (TN) 52.81s, Sneha K (Ker) 53.00s; 100m hurdles (Asian Q 13.26s) Jyothi Yarraji (Rel) 13.23s, Pragyan Prasanti (Odi) 13.40s, Nithya Ramraj (TN) 13.42s; Discus (Asian Q 54.19m): Seema (JSW) 57.17m, Bhavana Yadav (Del) 52.15m, Priya (Har) 51.36m; Heptathlon: Agasara Nandini (Tel) 5813 points, Pooja (Har) 5401 points, Moumita Mondal (Rel) 5373 points.