New Delhi, Apr 11 (PTI) Star sprinter Animesh Kujur of Odisha won the 100m dash in a photo finish after earlier clinching the 200m title, stealing the spotlight at the one-day Indian Athletics Series here on Saturday.
Opening his outdoor season on the ‘fast’ Mondo track, Kujur won the 200m race in the morning session with a time of 20.74 seconds, beating 400m national record holder Vishal T who ran 21.01 seconds. Vishal was representing NCOE Trivandrum.
Dharamveer Choudhary of Rajasthan clocked the third best time of 21.03 seconds. More than 50 athletes competed in the men’s 200m race.
The 22-year-old Kujur was, however, pushed to the limit by Tamil Arasu of Railways in the 100m dash as both were initially given identical time of 10.28 seconds. Later, the photo finish was decided in favour of Kujur, who clocked 10.272 seconds compared to Tamil Arasu’s 10.280 seconds.
Gurvindervir Singh, who won the 60m gold in the National Indoor Championships last month in Bhubaneswar where Kujur was disqualified for a false start, finished third with a time of 10.40 seconds. “It (the race) got pretty close, but it’s okay. This was the season opener (in outdoors), my first race. And I am happy with the timing,” Kujur said later.
“This is the best timing for a season opener. Last year I did 10.5 in the season opener and this year 10.28. It’s good. I will do well in the upcoming Federation Cup (in May) and National Inter-State (in June).” Asked about the recently-laid Mondo track at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here, Kujur said, “This track is very fast. Mondo is very fast. This is my first outdoor race on Mondo though I have competed on Mondo before outside the country, in Belgium, Monaco, etc. And now I am doing it in India.
“There is not much wind, though, today.” Two-time Asian Games champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor recorded a 21.03m throw to win the men’s shot put title. He holds the national record of 21.77m.
Promising high jumper Pooja raised the bar to emerge winner with a height of 1.90m, her personal best.
The excitement reached its zenith in the evening session as top three male javelin throwers crossed the 80m barrier in a battle of supremacy.
But it was Rohit Yadav’s day as he won the top position with an impressive throw of 82.17m. World Championships fourth-place finisher Sachin Yadav settled for second place with 81.95m, while Yashvir Singh was third with a throw of 81.61m.
In the men’s quarter-mile event, national record holder Vishal TK took the top spot with a time of 45.44 seconds. His national record stands at 45.12 seconds.
Shaili Singh took the top spot in women’s long jump with an effort of 6.24m, while Pariksha of Haryana was second with 6.10m. Shaili chose to have just three jumps out of six. Out of the three, she had one legal jump of 6.24m, while the other two were fouls. Lakshadweep’s Mubassina Mohammed was third with 6.05m.
The women’s 200m also saw mediocre show with Priyanka Sikarwar of All India Police finishing on top with a time of 23.91 seconds, while Unnathi Bollanda of Karnataka was second with 24.12 seconds.
Mohd Atta Sazid of Haryana won the men’s long jump event with a distance of 7.86m.
Karnataka’s Shailesh Kushwaha emerged winner in the men’s 10000m race with a time of 30:01.08. Uttarakhand’s Anu Kumar emerged on top in the men’s 800m race, clocking 1:49.87.
The men’s 110m hurdles was won by Muhammed Lazan of JSW Sports with a time of 14.23 seconds. C Anjali of JSW Sports finished on top in women’s 100m hurdles in a 13.58 seconds.
Tanya Chaudhary of Uttar Pradesh took the women’s hammer throw with an effort of 61.29m.
Hima Das returns to track ================ Asian Games medallist Hima Das of Assam returned to the tracks after two years but she could only clock 25.42 seconds in 200m and 57.94 seconds to be among the slowest in both the races.
“This is my first competition (after two years) and I feel very good. I won’t say I am not 100% yet. I had a training session yesterday. I am slowly getting back to normal. I hope I can do better in the next competition.
“I had knee surgery in Reliance Hospital in Mumbai. The doctor did a good job to make me recover,” said Hima who had served a 16-month suspension for whereabouts failures between July 2023 and November 2024.
She said she is trying hard to get selected for the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games later in the year.
“Of course, the Games are the aim of every athlete. Commonwealth Games and Asian Games are very popular in India.
“I am trying hard. The season has just started. There are back-to-back Games coming up. I will be competing in Federation Cup also (in May).” Rashdeep Kaur of Punjab took the top spot in the women’s 400m title with a time of 53.10 seconds, while Aishwarya Mishra of Maharashtra and Priya Habbathanahal clocked second and third best times of 53.30 seconds and 54.24 seconds respectively.
NADA conducts dope tests ================= Dope sample collectors from the National Anti-Doping Agency were present at the event. Doping Control Officers (DCOs) were seen asking athletes to furnish dope samples after their events. PTI PDS AH PDS ATK
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