G K Vijayakumari’s strong and confident strides fetched Karnataka their only gold medal on the third day of the 29th Junior National Athletics Championships that witnessed the fall of four national records on Thursday.
Vijayakumari, competing in the under-18 girls 400M, outwitted her rivals with a well-paced run in the final, delivering a career best time of 56.75 seconds.
Two silver medals and a bronze were all the hosts could manage till afternoon when the 17-year-old stepped it up to add some sheen to the tally even as athletes from Kerala continued their dominance at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
Running in lane three, Vijayakumari wrested control of the race early even though the pace seemed a bit too quick early on. She made up the stagger quickly and was clearly ahead of her Kerala rival Shaharbana Sidhique in lane four well before the first 200M was reached.
As they came past the bend and into the homestraight, the question was whether she would be able to maintain the advantage. That she did wonderfully well to come victorious, much to the delight of her coach YS Lakshmeesha. Shaharbana claimed the silver in 57.28.
Of the four national records to fall, Chandan Bauri’s mark in the under-16 boy’s 400M was the most impressive. He timed 48.24 seconds to erase Arjun Khokar’s mark of 49.14, set in 2010. Haryana’s Sahil Mahabali was also an impressive winner in the under-16 boys’ long jump, retaining his gold with a big leap of 7.27 metres, cracking the record of 7.19 set by Vineeth V S in 2005.
Two other national marks came in the under-14 section. Sanchay Kumar Paul clocked 11.19 seconds in the 100M heats to shatter B Karthikeyan’s 2010 time of 11.42 before running a wind-assisted 11.14 in the final. In the girls’ section Mahashri Baloda of Delhi wrote the shot put record in her name with an effort of 11.63 metres, erasing Anamika Das’ mark of 11.01.
Praneetha Pradeep and Toommy Vaishnavi, both VR Beedu’s wards, struck silver in long jump in the under-18 and under-14 sections. Jyothi Nivas student Praneetha leapt to 5.88 metres for the second spot while Baldwin girl Toommy, the triathlon champion, touched the sand at 5.24 metres.
Pavithra added a bronze to the State kitty from the under-18 pole vault with a clearance of 2.60 metres. Shani Shaji and Reshma R of Kerala shared the gold at 3.00 metres.
Kerala, with seven more gold medals on the day, are leading the table with 301 points while Tamil Nadu are in second place with 180.5 points. Karnataka are in seventh spot with 91.5 points.
Meanwhile, 29 athletes were barred from the competition after they were found overage, according to the Athletics Federation of India. The list includes nine from Delhi, seven from Haryana and six from Uttar Pradesh.
Results: Boys: Under-20: 100M: Husandeep Singh (Chandigarh) 10.59 seconds (New Meet Record. Old: 10.65, Sujith Kuttan, 2010), 1; Robin R (Kerala) 10.68, 2; Ashok Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) 10.74, 3.
400M: Sumit Malik (Himachal Pradesh) 47.31 seconds, 1; Lalit Mathur (Delhi) 47.94, 2; Kamberdeep Singh (Punjab) 48.16, 3. Discus throw: Sachin (Haryana) 56.72 metres (NMR. Old: 54.30, Arjun Kumar, 2008), 1; Dilyogi (Uttar Pradesh) 51.59, 2; Monty D (Delhi) 50.99, 3. 10000M walk: Vinay Kumar (Madhya Pradesh) 48:59.85, 1; Manoj Yadav (Bihar) 49:38.42, 2; Kishore P (Kerala) 49:44.06, 3.
Under-18: 100M: B Karthikeyan (Pondicherry) 10.95 seconds, 1; Ch Sudhakar (Andhra Pradesh) 10.99, 2; Somyadeep S (Bengal) 11.03, 3. 400M: A Dharun (Tamil Nadu) 48.24 seconds, 1; M Kiran (TN) 49.01, 2; Sandhu Sukumar (Kerala) 49.25, 3. Shot put: Nishan Singh (Punjab) 18.39 metres, 1; Mohd Ibrahim (Uttar Pradesh) 18.10, 2; Ankit Tomar (Delhi) 17.75, 3.
Under-16: 100M: M S Arun (Tamil Nadu) 11.06 second,s 1; Kshitij Gajanana (Maharaashtra) 11.13, 2; G Ayyappa Prasad (Andhra Pradesh) 11.26, 3. 400M: Chandan Bauri (Bengal) 48.24 seconds (National record. Old: 49.14, Arjun Khokar, 2010), 1; Devender (Jharkhand) 49.28, 2; Baljeet (Haryana) 49.45, 3. Long jump: Sahil Mahabali (Haryana) 7.27 metres (National record. Old: 7.19, Vineeth VS, 2005), 1; Devuraj (Kerala) 7.07, 2; M Jeeva (Tamil Nadu) 6.90, 3. 5000M walk: Vijay (Haryana) 22:56.54, 1; Eaknath Sham (Delhi) 23:07.49, 2; Aneesh A (Kerala) 23:42.04, 3.
Under-14: 100M: Sanchay Kumar Paul (Bengal) 11.14 seconds, 1; Bikram Murmu (Orissa) 11.47, 2; Sudesh Gurjar (Madhya Pradesh) 11.53, 3. High jump: Anandhu K S (Kerala) 1.84 metres, 1; Sahanawaz (Delhi) 1.82, 2; Varun F (Uttar Pradesh) 1.82, 3. Shot put: Sourav (Haryana) 15.94 metres, 1; Abhijeet Rajesh (Maharashtra) 14.29, 2; Sahil Gaba (Punjab) 13.97, 3.
Girls: Under-20: 100M: Archana S (Tamil Nadu) 11.81 seconds (NMR. Old: 11.92, V Pandeswari, 1996), 1; Ruma Sarkar (Bengal) 12.04, 2; Renjitha C (Kerala) 12.12, 3. 400M: Jisha V V (Kerala) 56.94 seconds, 1; P Iniya (Tamil Nadu) 57.22, 2; Arunima P M (Kerala) 57.79, 2; Archana A (Maharashtra) 58.28, 3. Pole vault: Sinju Prakash (Kerala) 3.40 metres (NMR. Old: 3.30, Sinju, 2012), 1; Emitha Babu (Kerala) 3.00, 2. Triple jump: Bhairabi Roy (Bengal) 12.34 metres, 1; M A Siva Anbarasi (Tamil Nadu) 12.31, 2; Kairi Purty (Bihar) 12.29, 3. Shot put: Tunlai Narzari (Assam) 12.51 metres, 1; Ramanpreet K (Punjab) 11.85, 2; Sumandevi (Punjab) 11.83, 3. Javelin throw: Kumari Sharma (Haryana) 46.34 metres, 1; Prajitha C K (Kerala) 44.79, 2; Sangeeta C (Rajasthan) 40.67, 3.
Under-18: 100M: Sunita Pal (Uttar Pradesh) 12.20 seconds, 1; Mamta Hulke (Maharashtra) 12.24, 2; Nithyamol M (Kerala) 12.42, 3.
400M: Vijayakumari G K (Karnataka) 56.75 seconds, 1; Shaharbana S (Kerala) 57.28, 2; Neethu Sabu (Kerala) 58.49, 3. Long jump: G Karthika (Tamil Nadu) 6.03 metres, 1; S Praneetha Pradeep (Karnataka) 5.88, 2; V Akshaya Sonasri (Tamil Nadu) 5.66, 3. Pole vault: Shani Shaji (Kerala) and Reshma R (Kerala) 3.00 metres, 1; Pavithra (Karnataka) 2.60, 3.
Hammer throw: Lakxay Sharma (Delhi) 47.53 metres, 1; S Srinithi (Tamil Nadu) 45.44, 2; Monika (Haryana) 44.80, 3. 5000M walk: Neena K T (Kerala) 26:24.69, 1; Binsy A M (Kerala) 27:06.15, 2; Priyanka (Uttar Pradesh) 28:05.99, 3.
Under-16: 100M: V Tamil Selvi (Tamil Nadu) 12.53 seconds, 1; Siddhi Hirey (Maharashtra) 12.54, 2; K Ramalakshmi (Tamil Nadu) 12.60, 3.
400M: Tiasha S (Bengal) 57.40 seconds, 1; R Vithya (Tamil Nadu) 58.73, 2; Nidhi (Maharashtra) 59.58, 3. High jump: Anju Babu (Kerala) 1.60 metres, 1; Laimwn Narza (Assam) 1.53, 2; Ritu (Haryana) 1.50, 3. 3000M walk: Sujitha K R (Kerala) 15:43.92, 1; Kapase Suwarna (Maharashtra) 15:55.72, 2; Bandhana Patel
Under-14: 100M: S Lithiya (Tamil Nadu) 12.99 seconds, 1; Rajashree P (Bengal) 13.10, 2; Antima Kumar (Bihar) 13.25, 3. Long jump: S Samyuktha (Tamil Nadu) 5.32 metres, 1; Toommy Vaishnavi (Karnataka) 5.24, 2; Anjaly Thomas (Kerala) 5.14, 3. Shot put: Mahashri Baloda (Delhi) 11.63 metres (National record. Old: 11.01, Anamika Das, 2012), 1; Kavita Goswami (Delhi) 10.49, 2; J Elakeya (Tamil Nadu) 10.34, 3.