Renjith leaps to meet record, earns World Championship norm; double for Asha

Tamil Nadu triple jumper Renjith Maheswary attained the qualifying standard for the Moscow World Championships after he leapt to 16.98 metres on the final day of the National Inter-State Athletics championships at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Friday.

In the process, he also bettered his own meet mark of 16.73 metres set at the same venue four years ago.

 Renjith was the Asian champion in 2007 at Amman, Jordan, with a wind-aided 17.19 metres  He went on to jump a legal best of 17.07 metres while winning the bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games at Delhi three years ago.

 Starting his quest with a leap of 16.47 metres in the first round, Renjith reached the big one on his third attempt – his best in three years – and logged a 16.96 metres on the fifth attempt. The World Championships ‘B’ standard is 16.85 metres.

Arpinder Singh of Punjab,  training partner and close competitor of Renjith, finished second with 16.47 while junior lad Mohammed Salahuddin took the bronze at 15.57.
 “This year has started well for me.  I wish to erase the bitter memories of  London Olympics where I ended up with three failures,” Renjith said.

 Asha Roy and O P Jaisha completed a double each. Asha clinched the 200M title clocking 23.59 seconds from Dutee Chand of Orissa (24.03) to add to the gold she won in the 100M on the opening day.

Newcomer Pratiek Ninawe of Maharashtra claimed the men’s 200M in a photo-finish from Jharkhand’s Ritesh Anand, timing 21.65 to Anand’s 21.66 seconds. Jaisha, representing Punjab, won 1500M after a battle with Sini A Markose (nee Paulose) of Karnataka.
Preeja Sreedharan pocketed the gold in women’s 10000m clocking 34:38.28. 

Kerala won the overall title (172.5 points) and the women’s championship (112.5 points) while hosts Tamil Nadu were triumphant in the men’s division with 79 points.
Renjith and Sudha Singh were adjudged the best athletes.

Results:  Men: 200M: Pratiek Ninawe (Maharashtra) 21.65 seconds, 1; Ritesh Anand (Jharkhand) 21.66, 2; Amiya Kumar Mallick (Orissa) 21.71, 3. 1500M: Sandeep (Haryana) 3:57.50, 1; Pranjal Gogoi (Assam) 3:57.87, 2; Sajeesh Joseph (Kerala) 3:57.88, 3. 10000M: Kheta Ram (Rajasthan) 29:39.06, 1; Rati Ram Saini (Rajasthan) 29:39.23, 2; Lakshmanan (Tamil Nadu) 29:41.36, 3. 400M hurdles: Satinder Singh (Punjab) 51.55 seconds, 1; Jithin Paul (Jharkhand) 52.56, 2; Ramachandran (Maharashtra) 52.74, 3. Triple jump: Renjith Maheswary (Tamil Nadu) 16.98 metres, 1; Arpinder Singh (Punjab) 16.47, 2; Mohammad Salahuddin (Tamil Nadu) 15.57, 3. Discus throw: Arjun (Delhi) 53.99 metres, 1; Vikas Poonia (Rajasthan) 53.49, 2; Baljinder Singh (Punjab) 52.40, 3. 4x400M relay: Jharkhand 3:11.03, 1; Tamil Nadu 3:13.34, 2; Jammu & Kashmir 3:45.65, 3.

Women: 200M: Asha Roy (Bengal) 23.59 seconds, 1; Dutee Chand (Orissa) 24.03, 2; Srabani Nanda (Orissa) 24.05, 3.

1500M: O P Jaisha (Punjab) 4:16.78, 1; Sini A Markose (Karnataka) 4:17.53, 2; Jhuma Khatun (Bengal) 4:20.34, 3. 10000M: Preeja Sreedharan (Kerala) 34:38.28, 1; L Suriya (Tamil Nadu) 35:22.31, 2; Monica Athre (Maharashtra) 35:25.47, 3. 400M hurdles: Elavarasi (Tamil Nadu) 1:00.70, 1; Anu R (Kerala) 1:00.76, 2; Papathi (Tamil Nadu) 1:01.65, 3. Heptathlon: Sushmita Singha Roy (Bengal) 5164 points, 1; Navpreet Kaur (Punjab) 5064, 2; Liksy Joseph (Kerala) 4887, 3. 4x400M relay: Kerala 3:40.74, 1; Haryana 3:45.53, 2; Tamil Nadu 3:52.42