Chennai: The sheer delight of a first-time winner was splashed right across S E Samsheer’s face. For some time now, the man from Mangaluru had been battling it out against the likes of Ankit Sharma and Kumarvel Premkumar, unable to find that breakthrough moment. It finally arrived on Tuesday, at the 57th Open National Athletics Championships, and the long jumper’s joy knew no bounds.
“I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it,” he repeated, thanking the almighty for his benevolence. Representing Railways, Samsheer kicked the sand at 7.74 metres, a career-best show, to outclass the opposition. On a day when Railways snared five gold medals to make a big statement, Samsheer’s effort stood out, coming as it did right at the end of a long season.
Services, challenging Railways for the overall title, claimed three gold, including one in javelin through Davinder Singh while a silver and a bronze marked Karnataka’s day, with G K Vijayakumari finishing second in the 400M and Prajna Prakash ending third in the women’s 100M.
Samsheer’s main rival, Ankit, wasn’t there while Premkumar struggled to produce a decent leap on home turf. That took little away from Samsheer’s performance as he upped his level in the fourth round, after registering 7.43, 7.59 and a foul in the first three rounds.
With his coach Bedros Bedrosian shouting instructions from the stands, Samsheer put it all together in the next jump and spread his arms wide in celebration. “It didn’t feel that I had jumped that far,” said Samsheer’s whose previous best was 7.67 at the Federation Cup in Patiala this year.
“He can do even better in the next season,” said Bedrosian, who signalled his ward to skip the final two rounds, to protect him from injury.
Silver for Vijaya
M R Poovamma, the favourite in the women’s 400, was disqualified for a false start, making it an open field. Vijayakumari, running in lane five, fought it out with Soniya Baisya of Bengal but faded at the finish. The Y Lakshmisha-ward timed 54.14 to Soniya’s 53.98, earning her first silver at the senior level.
Prajna, running three races in the space of two and a half hours, finished third in 100M in 11.92 seconds, behind Tamil Nadu’s S Archana (11.78) and Chandralekha (11.92). Prajna had finished fourth in the 100M hurdles earlier.
The men’s 100M produced a tight finish between Mohd Sadath of Services and Elakkiyadasan of Tamil Nadu. The photo-verdict put Sadath in first position at 10.57, with Elakkiyadasan also credited the same timing.
In javelin, Davinder, troubled by a shoulder injury, could not uncork his best. The gold was in his pocket though, with a 75.12M throw.
Karnataka man Abhishek Shetty, representing Railways, won the decathlon gold with 6835 points.
DH News Service
Results: Men: 100M: Mohd Sadath (Services) 10.57 seconds, 1; Elakkiyadasan (Tamil Nadu) 10.57, 2; Vidya Sagar (Services) 10.60, 3.
400M: Jithu Baby (Services) 47.08 seconds, 1; Mohan Kumar (ONGC) 47.17, 2; Ravinder (Haryana) 47.26, 3.
1500M: Ajay Kumar Saroj (Railways) 3:41.93, 1; Mohd Afsal P (Services) 3:46.48, 2; Bir Singh (Haryana) 3:47.95, 3.
110M hurdles: Siddanth Thingalaya (ONGC) 14.06 seconds, 1; Akhil Johnson (Services) 14.20, 2; A Suresh (Railways) 14.23, 3.
Long jump: Samsheer S E (Railways) 7.74 metres, 1; Sahil Mahabali (Haryana) 7.56, 2; Silambarasan M (Services) 7.53, 3.
Javelin: Davinder Singh Kang (Services) 75.12 metres, 1; Abhishek Singh (Services) 74.19, 2; Sunil Bishnoi (Punjab) 74.03, 3.
Decathlon: Abhishek N Shetty (Railways) 6835 points, 1; Amolak Singh (Services) 6754, 2; Dayaram (Services) 6697, 3.
Women: 100M: S Archana (Tamil Nadu) 11.78 seconds, 1; Chandralekha (Tamil Nadu) 11.92, 2; Prajna S Prakash (Karnataka) 11.92, 3. 400M: Soniya Baisya (Bengal) 53.98 seconds, 1; Vijayalakshmi G K (Karnataka) 54.14, 2; Jauna Murmu (ONGC) 54.50, 3. 1500M: Archana Adhav (Maharashtra) 4:18.64, 1; Monika Chaudhary (Railways) 4:19.15, 2; Pramila Yadav (Railways) 4:27.39, 3 100M hurdles: Purnima Hembram (Railways) 13.89 seconds, 1; Anurupa Kumari (Jharkhand) 13.98, 2; Soumya (Railways) 14.32, 3. Shot put: Navjeet Kaur (Railways) 15.23 metres, 1; Kachnar Chaudhary (ONGC) 14.11, 2; Rakhi Sangwan (Har) 13.76, 3.
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