Annu clinches javelin gold

Athletics open nationals

Bengaluru: All eyes were on javelin thrower Annu Rani on day two of the 63rd National Open Athletics Championships at the Sree Kanteerava stadium here on Saturday. 

And the 32-year-old, returning to domestic competition after an underwhelming outing at the Paris Olympics where she failed to make the finals, hurled the sphere to a distance of 58.97 meters in her fourth throw to clinch gold. Haryana duo of Jyoti (58.10m) and Deepika (55.23m) took silver and bronze respectively. 

“I wanted to compete here because I haven’t touched my potential this year, so I was aiming to at least sign-off with my season’s best (SB),” reasoned the athlete representing Railways Sports (RS) here.

Annu couldn’t achieve her personal goal as her SB remained 60.68m that came in Germany this May. In Paris, her best effort measured 55.81m.

The spotlight on the second day of competitions was on 100m sprints and both the men and women’s categories witnessed close finishes. 

Lalu Prasad Bhoi of Odisha clocked 10.46 seconds to win the the men’s 100m dash even as Manikanta H of Services Sports Control Board (10.48s) came a close second while Siva B of RS (10.50s) finished third. 

The corresponding women’s event saw Nithya Gandhe of RS and Sneha SS of Karnataka locked in a photo finish. 

However, Nithya with a timing of 11.561s pipped Sneha - who crossed the finish line two thousand’s of a second behind at 11.563 - to take the top spot on the podium. Giridharani of RS (11.64s) claimed the bronze. 

Results: Men: 100m: Lalu Prasad Bhoi (Odi) 10.46s, 1; Manikanta H (SSCB) 10.48s, 2; Siva B (RS) 10.50s, 3. 

110m hurdles: Manav R (RS) 13.86s, 1; Tejas Shirse (RS) 14.01s, 2; Ronald (MP) 14.32s, 3. 

Pole vault: M Gowtham (TN) 5.05m, 1; Anshu Patel (MP) 5.00m, 2; Kuldeep Kumar (UP) 4.90m, 3. 

400m: Tushar Manna (Del) 45.97s, 1; Mohit Kumar (SSCB) 46.13s, 2; Vikrant Panchal (RS) 46.33s, 3. 

Discus throw: Gagandeep Singh (SSCB) 55.71m, 1; Praveen Kumar Nehra (RS) 55.35m, 2; Nirbhay Singh (Har) 55.24m, 3.  

1500m: Ritesh Ohre (RS) 3:47.41, 1; Vikash (Har) 3:47.86, 2; Rahul Baloda (SSCB) 3:47.87, 3. 

Decathlon: Stalin Joes S (SSCB) 3335 points, 1; Yaman Deep (RS) 3278 pts, 2; Kushal Mohite (Mah) 3063 pts, 3. 

Women: 100m: Nithya Gandhe (RS) 11.57s, 1; Sneha SS (Kar) 11.57s, 2; Giridharani (RS) 11.64s, 3. 

100m hurdles: Nithya Ramraj (TN) 13.04s, 1; Pragyan Prasant Sahu (Odi) 13.45s, 2; Nandhini K (TN) 13.69s, 3. 

400m: Aishwarya Mishra (Mah) 53.77s, 1; Devyaniba Zala (Guj) 53.87s, 2; Kunja Rajitha (AP) 54.27s, 3. 

Javelin throw: Annu Rani (RS) 58.97m, 1; Jyoti (Har) 58.10m, 2; Deepika (Har) 55.23m, 3. 

High jump: Rekha (RS) 1.82m, 1; Gobika K (TN) 1.80m, 2; Manshi (UP) 1.78m, 3. 

1500m: Lili Das (RS) 4:16.52, 1; KM Deeksha (MP) 4:25.91, 2; Sunita (RS) 4:26.29, 3. 

Shot put: Manpreet Kaur (RS) 16.42m, 1; Rekha (RS) 16.12m, 2; Yogita (RS) 15.65m, 3. 

400m mixed relay: Punjab 3:23.27, 1; Kerala 3:25.28, 2; Tamil Nadu 3:26.68, 3.