Rebecca grabs 100M top prize

Rebecca, who had finished third in the first meet four days back, recovered from a slow start to dash home in 12.47 seconds, finishing ahead of Punjab’s Mandeep Kaur (12.62) and Delhi’s Shalu Chaudhary (12.92).

The 19-year-old student of Surana College in Bangalore trailed in the early part of the race but made ground rapidly before powering away in the final 40 metres to taste success.

“It was windy and my start was pretty bad,” said Rebecca, who had timed 12.43 in the first meet. “Otherwise I could have clocked a better timing,” added the youngster who trains under DYSS coach A Ravi.

There was little improvement on the performance scale as another mediocre competition unfolded on a hot evening, with many leading lights staying away.

Punjab’s Shamsher Pratap Singh repeated his first-meet performance in long jump to stand out on the day, delivering a leap of 7.77 metres for the gold while SK Mortaja took the men’s 400M in 47.35 seconds.

Former Armyman Ghamanda Ram, representing ONGC now, continued his comeback in the men’s 800M, timing 1:47.59 for the top spot, finishing more than six seconds ahead of Andhra Pradesh’s K Ramulu.

Mayookha Johny, an impressive winner in the women’s triple jump at the first meet, stayed away this time and the gold went to MA Prajusha, the national-record holder.

Prajusha, who has a best of 13.72, needed only an effort of 13.02 to finish ahead of Shradha Ghule and Shalu Chaudhary. Maharashtra’s Krishna Kumar Rane won a slow men’s 100M race in 10.70 seconds, with Army’s Hemant Kirulkar (10.73) and Shameer Mon (10.74) taking the next two spots.

The women quartermilers too disappointed. Andhra woman K Mridula’s 55.77 was the best of the day, earning her the gold medal ahead of Sini Jose (56.07) and Jauna Murmu (56.22).

Agencies

Results: Men: 100M: Krishna Kumar Rane (Maharashtra) 10.70 seconds, 1; Hemant Kirulkar (Army) 10.73, 2; Shameer Mon (Army) 10.74, 3.

400M: SK Mortaja (Bengal) 47.35 seconds, 1; Ajay Kumar (Haryana) 47.85, 2; J Premanand (Tamil Nadu) 48.20, 3.

800M: Ghamanda Ram (ONGC) 1:47.59, 1; K Ramulu (Andhra Pradesh) 1:54.28, 2; S I Ramjan Khan (BSF) 1:54.42, 3.

High jump: Jithin Thomas (Army) 2.00 metres, 1; Siddharth Yadav (Haryana) 1.80, 2; Bharat Inder Singh (Haryana) 1.75, 3.

Long jump: Shamsher Pratap Singh (Punjab) 7.77 metres, 1; Maha Singh (Punjab) 7.62, 2; Bharat Inder Singh (Haryana) 7.06, 3.

Triple jump: Arpinder Singh (Punjab) 15.90 metres, 1; Bibin Dev (Army) 15.75, 2; Saurabh (Uttar Pradesh) 15.64, 3.

Discus throw: Vikas Poonia (Rajasthan) 49.92 metres, 1; Sunil Kumar (Haryana) 49.70, 2; Lakhwinder Singh (Haryana) 49.31, 3.

Women: 100M: Rebecca Jose (Karnataka) 12.47 seconds, 1; Mandeep Kaur (Punjab) 12.62, 2; Shalu Chaudhary (Delhi) 12.92, 3.

400M: K Mridula (Andhra Pradesh) 55.77 seconds, 1; Sini Jose (Kerala) 56.07, 2; Jauna Murmu (Orissa) 56.22, 3.

Triple jump: MA Prajusha (Railways) 13.02 metres, 1; Shradha Ghule (Maharashtra) 12.37, 2; Shalu Chaudhary (Delhi) 11.83, 3.

Discus throw: Amanpreet Kaur (Punjab) 47.25 metres, 1; Promila (Haryana) 42.74, 2; Navjit Kaur (Punjab) 42.21, 3.

Javelin throw: Suman Devi (Uttar Pradesh) 48.19 metres, 1; Megha Pardeshi (Maharashtra) 44.43, 2; Gurpreet Kaur (Haryana) 41.37, 3.