Renjith announces return with record-breaking jump

Surekha grabs pole vault title on golden day for couple

At the Nehru stadium, Renjith leapt to 16.73 metres, improving his season’s best of 16.68 metres set at the Open Nationals in Bhopal earlier this month. And just as in Bhopal, his wife VS Surekha too struck gold on the same day, winning the pole vault with a meet record of 3.95 metres.

“Both of us were targeting national records here but I was bothered about the length of the runway and she was hit by a stomach bug,” said Renjith, not too pleased with his display after an excellent start to the competition.

Still, it was a fine effort by the Kerala jumper who was competing in only his third event this season. The Asian champion and National record holder at 17.04 metres, Renjith was struggling to touch 16 metres at the end of last season and was hit by injuries this year.
Renjith fouled his first jump, a big one, and then delivered his best effort in the second round. He had a 14.91, 16.17, 16.25 and 16.49 in his subsequent efforts while his rivals remained way behind. Amarjeet Singh, the meet record holder at 16.67, was troubled by a heel injury and had to settle for silver at 15.99 metres.

Tamil Nadu’s Surekha, after clearing 3.95 on her second try, attempted 4.05 but failed three times. The National record holder at 4.08 metres, Surekha then hit out at the Tamil Nadu association for ‘lack of encouragement’.

There was one other meet record on the day, with Elam Singh of Uttarakhand timing 8:43.89 in the men’s 3000M steeplechase to obliterate the record of 8:46.92 set by Om Prakash last year.

In the men’s 200M, S Arunjith returned to the top of the podium after more than a year with a 21.38-second dash. The Kerala runner had won silver at the Open Nationals in 21.26 seconds but on the day, even a slip-up on the curve did not halt his charge to the finish.

K Soujanya led an Andhra Pradesh sweep in the women’s 200M. The 22-year-old from Guntur produced a late surge to wrest the lead from HM Jyothi with 50M left and held on for the gold in 24.33 seconds. Jyothi (24.41) took silver while S Geetha (24.71) claimed the bronze.


Results:
Men: 200M: S Arunjith (Kerala) 21.38S, 1; M Manikandaraj (Tamil Nadu) 21.76, 2; Anas CG (Kerala) 21.92, 3.

3000M steeplechase: Elam Singh (Uttarakhand) 8:43.89 (New Meet Record. Old: 8:46.92), 1; Jaibir Singh (Maharashtra) 8:47.53, 2; Pritam Bind (Uttarakhand) 8:52.57, 3.
Triple jump: Renjith Maheswary (Kerala) 16.73M (NMR. Old: 16.67), 1; Amarjeet Singh (Jharkhand) 15.99, 2; Malkit Singh (Punjab) 15.59, 3.

Discus: Prabhjot Singh (Punjab) 52.17M, 1; Amritpal Singh (Jharkhand) 51.30, 2; Gurpreet Singh (Punjab) 46.83, 3.

Women: 200M: K Soujanya (Andhra Pradesh) 24.33S, 1; HM Jyothi (Andhra Pradesh) 24.48, 2; S Geetha (Andhra Pradesh) 24.71, 3.

3000M steeplechase: Sudha Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 10:21.88, 1; Kiran Tiwari (Madhya Pradesh) 10:40.10, 2; Rajshree Patil (Maharashtra) 10:51.14, 3.

High jump: Sahana Kumari (Jharkhand) 1.82M, 1; Kavya Muthanna (Jharkhand) 1.76, 2; Mallika Mondal (Bengal) 1.73, 3.

Pole vault: VS Surekha (Tamil Nadu) 3.95M (NMR. Old: 3.90), 1; S Saranya (Tamil Nadu) 3.30, 2; Jisha R (Kerala) 3.30, 3.

Hammer throw: Sukanya Mishra (Uttar Pradesh) 56.96M, 1; Seema Jakhar (Haryana) 54.31, 2; Usma D (Uttar Pradesh) 53.57, 3.

20000M walk: Deep Mala Devi (Jharkhand) 1::47:29.69, 1; Supriya Adak (Maharashtra) 1::52:59.61, 2; Sandhya K J (Kerala) 1::54:38.83, 3.