Khyathi sets lone meet record

Karnataka’s Khyathi Vakharia claimed the lone meet record to fall on the opening day of the National Inter-State Athletics Championships, triumphing in the women’s pole vault at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Tuesday.

Khyathi cleared 4.00 metres to erase V S Surekha’s mark of 3.95 metres set four years ago. Tamil Nadu’s Surekha, who holds the national mark at 4.08 metres, settled for the silver at 3.90 metres.

Kerala’s Mayookha Johny won the women’s long jump with a leap of 6.49 metres while Krishna Poonia again failed to come near her best in discus, taking the top spot with a 56.73 metres.

Anirudh Kalidas Gujar of Maharashtra and Asha Roy of West Bengal emerged the fastest athletes, winning the 100 metres in the men’s and women’s sections respectively.

Anirudh clocked 10.61 seconds in the men’s final while Asha timed 11.86 for the women’s gold.

Results: Men: 100M: Anirudh Kalidas Gujar (Maharashtra) 10.61 seconds, 1; Vijayakumar (Tamil Nadu) 10.63, 2; M Manikanda Raj (Andhra Pradesh) 10.64, 3.
5000M: Lakshmanan (Tamil Nadu) 14:15.39, 1; Nitender Singh (Uttarakhand) 14:15.66, 2; Md Younis (Maharashtra) 14:15.68, 3.

Women: 100M: Asha Roy (Bengal) 11.86 seconds, 1; Merlin K Joseph (Kerala) 11.90, 2; Sharadha Narayana (Tamil Nadu) 11.97, 3.

5000M: O P Jaisha (Punjab) 17:27.24, 1; Preeja Sreedharan (Kerala) 17:28.94, 2; L Suriya (Tamil Nadu) 17:31.18, 3.

Long jump: Mayookha Johny (Kerala) 6.49 metres, 1; Neena V (Jharkhand) 6.15, 2; Prajusha M A (Kerala) 6.01, 3.

Pole vault: Khyathi Vakharia (Karnataka) 4.00 metres, 1; V S Surekha (Tamil Nadu) 3.90, 2; Dija K C (Kerala) 3.60, 3. Discus throw: Krishna Poonia (Rajasthan) 56.73 metres, 1; Seema Antil (Uttar Pradesh) 51.70, 2; Navjit Kaur (Punjab) 47.07, 3. Javelin: Suman Devi (Uttar Pradesh) 51.96 metres, 1; Annu Rani (Uttar Pradesh) 49.52, 2; Mukesh Kumari (Haryana) 48.84, 3.