Kiran powers to 200M title

Karnataka lad bags lone gold for hosts; Kerala complete hat-trick

Karnataka’s quest for gold finally came to fruition on the final day of the 14th Junior Federation Cup athletics here.

After two days of miniscule succeses, it was sprinter M Kiran who answered the hosts’ prayers, hoisting the 200M title with an eye-catching run at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.

Before Kiran stepped on to the tracks, Karnataka had just two bronze medals to show for after two days of competition. But the 19-year-old changed it with a race oozing with confidence and power. Leaving his rivals, Kerala’s Joseph Joe and Chandigarh’s Pankaj Malik, way behind, Kiran crossed the finish in 21.62 seconds.

“I had run 21.50 in the semifinals but the hot weather posed problems in the final, otherwise I was confident of running even quicker,” said Kiran, a first-year B Com student of Jain College. Hailing from Salem in Tamil Nadu, this was his first competition for Karnataka after switching over in search of proper coaching and education.

Training under C Muralidharan at the Captain’s Track and Field, Kiran said he was confident of doing better in the future while his coach also predicted a bright future for the youngster. “He can do well in both 200 and 400,” said Muralidharan. Kiran had finished sixth in the 400 here.

On a day when the blazing sun slipped behind the clouds leading to a welcome spell of drizzle late in the afternoon, Kiran’s was the lone gold medal for Karnataka, while a bronze came through Shraddha Shetty in the Junior women’s 3000M steeplechase. Sadly, the State didn’t have a team in both the 4x400M relays.

As expected, Kerala topped the charts to complete a hat-trick of team titles, though their dominance was seriously challenged by Haryana, who finished second in the overall points table.

Fancied athletes fared badly in two much-awaited races. Haryana’s Beant Singh was pushed to second spot by Delhi’s Amoj Jacob in the Junior men’s 800 metres, while Abitha Mary Manuel faded to finish last in the Junior women’s 800.

Beant, perhaps exhausted by his efforts at the Senior Federation Cup last week, thought he had done enough to win the gold in a slow race. But the pace suited Amoj just fine as he overtook Beant in the final few metres to notch his first win over a familiar foe, timing 1:52.22.

Bengal’s Lili Das ran from the front to outclass her rivals in the Junior women’s 800. She timed 2:08.28 to complete a double, having won the 1500M on the first day. Lili, who also met the World Junior Championships grade in the 800M, was adjudged the best athlete among Junior women while the honour in the Junior men’s section went to 400M champion Pankaj Malik.

Apart from Lili, a clutch of athletes met the norm for the World Junior Championships on the final day, including Abhishek Pal (10000M), Aftab Alam (400M hurdles), Sonu Kumar (triple jump), Ashish Jakhar (hammer throw) and Gaurav Yadav (javelin).

Meanwhile, Shani Shaji, the pole vaulter who was injured on Wednesday, was taken to her home state Kerala on Thursday. And as promised, an ambulance was in place during the day’s events.

Results:  Junior Men: 200M: M Kiran (Karnataka) 21.62 seconds, 1; Joseph Joe M (Kerala) 22.18, 2; Pankaj Malik (Chandigarh) 22.25, 3. 800M: Amoj Jacob P A (Delhi) 1:52.22, 1; Beant Singh (Haryana) 1:52.40, 2; Deepak (Uttar Pradesh) 1:54.39, 3. 10,000M: Abhishek Pal (Assam) 30:42.22, 1; Kisan Tadvi
(Maharashtra) 30:50.15, 2; Gavit Murali (Gujarat) 31:09.61, 3. 400M hurdles: Aftab Alam (Uttar Pradesh) 52.95 seconds, 1; Amarjeet (Haryana) 54.52, 2; Divin Damodaran (Kerala) 54.63, 3. 3000M steeplechase: Vicky Tomar (Delhi) 9:22.76, 1; Sohan (Uttarakhand) 9:55.71, 2; Pinchu Kumar (Uttarakhand) 9:57.31, 3. Pole vault: Kunwar Gyaneni (Uttar Pradesh) 4.60 metres, 1; Dhirendra Kumar (Gujarat) 4.50, 2; Jessan K G (Kerala) 4.40, 3. Triple jump: Sonu Kumar (Rajasthan) 15.83 metres, 1; Sanal Scaria (Kerala) 14.98, 2; Ramdeo Tigga (Jharkhand) 14.98, 3. Hammer throw: Ashish Jakhar (Haryana) 68.47 metres, 1; Pradeep Kumar (Rajasthan) 65.97, 2; Meraj Ali (Uttar Pradesh) 63.62, 3. Javelin throw: Gaurav Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) 68.86 metres, 1; Abhishek Drall (Delhi) 66.75, 2; Mohd Hadeesh (Uttar Pradesh) 65.82, 3. 4x400M relay: Haryana 3:17.79, 1; Delhi 3:22.21, 2; Kerala 3:22.79, 3.Junior women: 200M: Subha (Tamil Nadu) 24.83 seconds, 1; Anwesha Roy (Bengal) 25.12, 2; Komal Sharma (Uttar Pradesh) 25.47, 3. 800M: Lili Das (Bengal) 2:08.28, 1; Harmilan Kaur (Punjab) 2:11.73, 2; Priya (Tamil Nadu) 2:11.82, 3. 3000M: Sudha Pal (Uttar Pradesh) 10:16.85, 1; Anumol Thampi (Kerala) 10:19.60, 2; Rima Patel (Bihar) 10:24.76, 3. 400M hurdles: Tiasha Samadder (Bengal) 1:01.98, 1; Sayana P O (Kerala) 1:03.59, 2; Anurupa Kumari (Jharkhand) 1:04.87, 3. 3000M steeplechase: Nandini Gupta (Uttar Pradesh) 11:47.94, 1; Khushboo Gupta (Uttar Pradesh) 11:55.08, 2; Shraddha Shetty (Karnataka) 12:54.90, 3. High jump: Laimwin Narzary (Assam) 1.67 metres, 1; Rajeshwari Das (Bengal) 1.61 and Payal Kanwar Chauhan (Rajasthan) 1.61, 2. Hammer throw: Shital (Haryana) 48.43 metres, 1; Rekha Singh (Uttarakhand) 45.17, 2; Srinithi (Tamil Nadu) 44.63, 3. Heptathlon: Aleena Vincent (Kerala) 4153 points, 1; Shivangi D Rawat (Delhi) 4128, 2; Kanimozhi (Tamil Nadu) 4075, 3. 4x400M relay: Kerala 3:52.29, 1; Bengal 3:59.73, 2; Tamil Nadu 4:00.78, 3.Team championships: Overall: Kerala (152 points) 1; Haryana (129 points) 2. Junior Men: Haryana (91 points) 1; Kerala (67 points) 2. Junior Women: Kerala (85 points) 1; Tamil Nadu (76 points), 2.Best athletes: Junior Men: Pankaj Malik (Haryana). Junior Women: Lili Das (Bengal).