BHUBANESWAR: ON a warm and humid evening at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Thursday, the all eyes were trained on Odisha's own star sprinter Animesh Kujur. With star names Tejaswin Shankar (Decathlon) and sprinter Gurindervir Singh (100m) skipping the ongoing National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships, the national record holder in the men's 200m hogged the limelight.
“I want to be the fastest man in India, again, that’s the target,” Kujur had said in the press conference before the nationals. As athletes breached the qualification mark for the Asian Games from the first day, the sparse crowd at the Kalinga Stadium expected their homegrown talent to better the national record of 20.32s in the men’s 200m final.
Starting on lane 5, Kujur got a good start, gaining pace over his competitors. While that start continued well into the straight, he seemed to lose speed in the final 20 metres and finished with a timing of 20.74s. With the headwinds at -1.8 m/s, keeping pace was not going to be easy. On another day, with that kind of race, Kujur would have been well within reach of breaking his own national record.
While Kujur may not have achieved his primary target of being ‘the fastest in India,’ securing a berth to his first Asian Games in Japan seemed momentous. “I didn't come here thinking about good timing but only to qualify for the Asian Games. There was not much competition for me in 200m so I hope to compete more in international competitions with faster runners in future," Animesh told reporters after his run.
Sindhushree breaks NR
Karnataka’s Sindhushree G created a new national record by leaping 4.25m in the women’s pole vault, pipping national record holder Baranica Elangovan to gold. She found success in her first attempt to leap past 4.25m, as the Karnataka athlete managed to keep the bar undisturbed. She also breached the qualification mark for the Asiad (4.10m), along with Elangovan (4.20m) and Madhya Pradesh’s Nitya Akare (4.10m).
"I am happy that I was able to achieve a new height in my life," Sindhushree said. "Unfortunately, I lost my father three years ago, but I strongly believe that he was with me today, that’s why I was able to break the national record. My coach Vijeesh MM helped me become a good athlete but when I cleared the height and touched the crossbar, I knew my father was supporting me from heaven."
Meanwhile, Olympian Manpreet Kaur dazzled in the women’s shot put final, with a throw of 17.75m, breaching the qualification mark (16.25m) with ease. TN’s Krishna Jayasankar marked her return after a muscle tear in the Federation competition last month with 16.96m throw to qualify to the Asian Games.
Earlier in the day, National record holder in men’s 110m hurdles Tejas Shirse bettered the qualification mark for the Asiad (13.63s) in the heats. He is set to take part in the final on Friday.
