Indian Grand Prix 3: Ancy pips fancied Nayana

Kerala’s Ancy Sojan E won the duel with her state-mate Nayana James to bag the long jump gold in a thriller.

Bengaluru: Karnataka’s Sneha SS emerged the fastest woman of the Indian Grand Prix-3 here on Wednesday while Kerala’s Ancy Sojan E won the duel with her state-mate Nayana James to bag the long jump gold in probably the only thrilling event on an otherwise drab day of competition.  

With the all-important 63rd National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships scheduled to take place in Panchkula from June 27-30 and the Paris Olympics less than 50 days away, the Indian GP-3 here at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium saw a vast majority of the elite athlete give it a miss.  

The Olympic-qualified athletes didn’t want to disturb their final preparations while a majority of the ones still hoping to make the Paris cut opted Panchkula as the destination to try and punch tickets to the French capital. Those in action here were just using it as a test event for the Inter-State meet with most of them not going all-out in pursuit of attaining the Paris mark. Not surprisingly, no one could secure the Olympic mark.

However, there was joy for Sneha in the women’s 100m. With conditions overcast and temperatures in the early 20s — not the ideal weather for athletics — Sneha knew it would be a tough race. But with not much competition in the field, this was great chance for her to strike gold. And she did it neatly.

She was off the blocks in a flash, charging into an early lead which she never relinquished until the end before crossing the line in 11.41 seconds. Tamil Nadu’s Abhinaya Rajarajan took silver with a timing of 11.60 while V Sudheeska (11.75) bagged bronze.

Ancy, a talented athlete with a desirable fashion sense, then stole the show later in the evening. In what was supposed to be a strong duel with Nayana, Ancy had it easy as the former struggled with the misty conditions. While Nayana fouled her first two attempts, Ancy kept growing in confidence in every leap before setting the mark with a 6.51-metre jump on her third attempt.

Nayana could never come close it, managing a best of 6.48m on her final attempt. Ancy, running with a swagger, signed off with 6.52m effort to emerge victorious.    

Results: Men: 100m: Ragul Kumar G (TN) 10.56s, 1; Manikanta Hoblidhar (Kar) 10.64, 2; Arjit Rana (Har) 10.65, 3.

400m: Prince Joseph (Ker) 46.46, 1; Jay Kumar (Del) 47.11, Aakash Babu Chintala (TN) 47.20, 3. 

800m: Prakash Gadade (Mah) 1:48.53, 1; Krishan Kumar (Har) 1:50.03, 2; Anu Kumar (Utk) 1:50.37, 3.

3,000m: Kiran Matre (Mah) 8:09.86, 1; Harpreet Singh (Pun) 8:15.28, 2; Deepak Bhatt (Utk) 8:20.51. 3. 

Triple jump: Karthik U (Ker) 16.11m, 1; Krishna Singh (Mah) 15.62, 2; Puneet Kumar (UP) 15.43, 3.

High jump: Swadhin Kumar Majhi (Odi) 2.10, 1; Nishant (Del) 2.00, 2; Rajesh Kumar (Har) 2.00, 3.

Long jump: Arya S (Kar) 7.76, 1; Sanmath Darshan Sakth (TN) 7.55, 2; Sharon Jestus J (TN) 7.54, 3. 

Shot put: Prabhkirpal Singh (Pun) 17.49. 1; Omesh Ranga (Pun) 16.19, 2.

Javelin throw: Sachin Yadav (UP) 82.69, 1; Rohit Yadav (UP) 75.52, 2. 

U-20: 110m hurdles: Nayan Pradip Sarde (Mah) 14.11, 1; Sandeep Vinodkumar (Mah) 14.23, 2.

400m hurdles: A Karthik Raja (TN) 52.76, 1; Jerome Sanjay Nishanth (TN) 53.06, 2; Noel Joseph Prabhu (Kar) 57.74, 3.

Discus throw: Atul (Har) 54.58, 1; Ritik (Chd) 52.91, 2; Deepak Choudhary (Raj) 51.74, 3.

Javelin throw: Shivam Lohakare (Mah) 76.19, 1; Dipanshu Sharma (UP) 68.30, 2; Rohan Yadav (UP) 67.10, 3.

Shot put: Nikhlesh (Har) 17.57, 1; Sarthak Singh (UP) 16.42, 2; Anshdeep Rawat (Har) 16.30, 3.

Women: 100m: Sneha SS (Kar) 11.41, 1; Abhinaya Rajarajan (TN) 11.60, 2; V Sudheeska (Kar) 11.75, 3.

200m: Nithya Gandhe (Tel) 24.23, 1; Kaveri Laxmangouda (Kar) 24.38, 2; Abinaya Rajarajan (TN) 24.39, 3.

400m: Dandi Jyothi Sri (AP) 51.53, 1; Subha Venkatesan (TN) 52.34, 2; Poovama Raju (Kar) 52.62, 3.

800m: Heena (Har) 2:12.21, 1; Arpitha EB (Kar) 2:12.69, 2; Vineeta Gurjar (UP) 1:13.80, 3. 

3,000m: Akshana (MP) 9:55.14, 1; Sanghamitra Mahata (Jhk) 9:55.60, 2; Prachi Devkar (Mah) 10:17.10, 3.

Long jump: Ancy Sojan E (Ker) 6.52, 1; Nayana James (Ker) 6.48, 2; Bhavani Yadav (AP) 6.27, 3.

Triple jump: Poorva Hitesh Sawant (Mah) 13.14, 1; Sharvari Avinash Parule (Mah) 12.74, 2; Ambika Nazary (Asm) 12.51, 3.

High jump: Abhinaya Shetty (Kar) 1.74, 1; Kevina Ashwine Annavi (TN) 1.65, 3.

Javelin throw: Rashmi K (AP) 46.69, 1; Lalita Choudhary (Raj) 43.24, 2; KM Saloni (UP) 43.21, 3. 

Shot put: Abha Khatua (Mah) 17.93, 1; Shiksha (Har) 15.38, 2; Ambika V (Kar) 14.32, 3.

U-20: 100m hurdles: Aliza Aftab Mulla (Mah) 14.26, 1; Sabita Toppo (Odi) 14.31, 2; Krishna Priya CS (Ker) 14.94, 3.

Javelin throw: Pratiksha Patel (UP) 46.00, 1; Nishi Kumari (Bih) 43.02, Komal (Raj) 39.00, 3.

400m hurdles: Shreevarthani SK (TN) 1:04.84, 1.

Shot put: Pooja Kumari (Raj) 13.37, 1; Kashish (Raj) 11.24, 2.