Amlan Borgohain bagged the sprint double and M Sreeshankar returned to action after an injury layoff with a gold medal at the Indian Grand Prix 3 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Monday.
It was less than ideal conditions for the athletes with the heat and strong headwind, and it showed.
Borgohain clinched the top prize in the men’s 100m and 200m events, stopping the clock at 10.50s and 21.20s respectively. Both the times were far from the personal best of the national record holder taking part in his first outdoor meet of the season.
“This was my first outdoor event of the season. I really felt the heat, then it was also very windy,” the Assam sprinter said.
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Commonwealth Games medallist Sreeshankar also struggled to find his best form but did enough to clinch the yellow metal with a jump of 7.94m in his last attempt. It was the Kerala jumper’s first competition since injuring his hamstring at the National Games last year.
Sreeshankar, although relatively pleased, stressed that not making the eight-meter mark was a sore point.
“The wind was really bad. I switched to a walking approach rather than a standing one ahead of the jump and I found it difficult to get my rhythm,” Sreeshankar said.
It was a familiar story for Jyothi Yarraji, the other big name at the event. The hurdler had set the national record at the same venue at the Open Nationals last season but, although dominant, was far from her best.
Yarraji, running her first outdoor event of the season, topped the stands with a time of 13.44s. “I am not satisfied,” she said curtly after the race.
Qualification marks
However, her time was still good enough to breach the qualification standard time of 13.63s for the Asian Games.
Another athlete who breached the mark for the continental championship was high jumper Rubina Yadav. The Haryana athlete’s jump of 1.81 metres put her 1 cm clear of the qualification mark.
For Karnataka, Vijayakumari GK won the lone gold in the 800m event while Nihal Joel W, Daneshwari AT, Jyothika, and Pavana Nagaraj won silver. Supriya SB won a bronze.
The numbers participating also left a lot to be desired with one event featuring only one participant while a couple of others had less than a handful.
Results: Men: 100m: Amlan Borgohain (Asm) 10.50s, 1; Amiya Kumar Mallick (Odi) 10.52s, 2; Hassan Saaid (Mal) 10.61s, 3.
200m: Amlan Borgohain (Asm) 21.20, 1; Animesh Kujur (Ctg) 21.53, 2; Hassan Said (Mal) 21.72, 3.
400m: Muhammed Ajmal V (Ker) 46.63, 1; Nihal Joel W (Kar) 47.12, 2; Rahul Ramesh Kadam (Mah) 47.13, 3.
800m: Ankesh Chaudhary (HP) 1:50.53, 1; Abhishek Singh Thakur (M) 1:52.08, 2; Tomson Paulose (Ker) 1:52.53, 3.
110m hurdles: Tejas Ashok Shirse (Mah) 13.81, 1; Madhvendra Sing Shekhawat (Raj) 13.92, 2; Manav R (TN) 14.48, 3.
400m hurdles: Jabir Madari Palliyalil (Ker) 51.61, 1; Santhosh Kumar T (TN) 51.85, 2; Nirmal Yadav (Mah) 52.34, 3.
Long jump: M Sreeshankar (Ker) 7.94m, 1; David P (TN) 7.80m, 2; Vishnu Siva Sankar (Del) 7.63m, 3.
Discus throw: Harpreet Singh (Pun) 54.76m, 1; Vijay Ramajeyam (TN) 48.96m, 2; Ashwani Lamba (Har) 47.99m, 3.
Women: 100m: Archana Suseendran (TN) 11.71, 1; Daneshwari AT (Kar) 11.79, 2; Nithya Gandhe (Tel) 11.96, 3.
200m: Hima Das (Asm) 23.77, 1; Jyothika (Kar) 24.88, 2; Ziva Moosa Shafeeu (Mal) 26.84, 3.
400m: Aishwarya Kailash Mishra (Mah) 53.63, 1; Kiran Pahal (Har) 55.32, 2; Vismaya VK (Ker) 55.37, 3.
800m: Vijayakumari GK (Kar) 2:09.70, 1; KM Deeksha (MP) 2:10.95, 2; Bhagyalaxmi Donthu Laxmi (Tel) 2:15.40, 3.
100m hurdles: Jyothi Yarraji (AP) 13.44, 1; Sapna Kumari (Jha) 13.85, 2; Agasara Nandini (Tel) 13.85, 3.
400m hurdles: Salini Valuparambil Krishna (Ker) 1:02.34, 1.
Triple jump: KM Sonam (UP) 13.50, 1; Karthika Gothandapani (AP) 13.11, 2; Mallala Anusha (AP) 12.77m, 3.
High jump: Rubina Yadav (Har) 1.81m, 1; Pavana Nagaraj (Kar) 1.64m, 2; Supriya SB (Kar) 1.55m, 3.
Discus throw: Annu (Har) 44.67m, 1; Priya Dharshini Moyyappan (TN) 40.52m, 2; Anagha Lakshmi Kurra (AP) 32.88m, 3.
Shot put: Tunlai Narzary (Asm) 14.18m, 1; Vaishnavi B (TN) 11.50m, 2.