Tintu wins 800M in dominant fashion

Sajeesh completes grand treble; Lalita sparkles

The season proper is still some time away but Tintu Luka seemed eager to put her imprint on it early.

Tintu was among the long list of athletes who weren’t pleased with the timing of the 35th National Games. But when the time came to put on a show, she wasn’t found wanting.

On the final day of the Games’ athletics programme, the Kerala 800M runner uncorked a familiar front-running spectacle to smash the meet record and win the gold medal, standing out in a five-gold haul for the hosts on the evening.

Sajeesh Joseph completing a hat-trick in the men’s 800M, a sprint double for Dharambir and Lalita Babar qualifying for the World Championships in 3000M steeplechase were the other highlights of the day in front of another packed gathering at the University Stadium.

Tintu was off to a quick start in the women’s two-lap race, sending out a clear message to her rivals. The first lap was covered in 59 seconds, and by then, she had built up a comfortable lead over her rivals. Kerala’s Sini A Markose, included in the final after a protest, stayed behind gamely but Tintu was well ahead of the rest of the pack. That lead proved the clincher for Tintu and even a late surge by her rivals proved futile as she timed 2:01.86 to knock off Rosa Kutty’s meet record of 2:03.08 set in 1997. Tamil Nadu’s Gomathi overtook Sini in the straight for the silver.

Sajeesh came up with a timely charge in the final 50M to win a mediocre men’s 800M that went on at a pedestrian pace. Sajeesh’s winning time – 1:53.68 – told the whole story.
Dharambir was a cut above the rest in the men’s 200 final, his 21.12 bettering Ajay Raj Singh’s 2001 mark of 21.20. Kerala’s V Santhini prevailed in a battle with Dutee Chand in the women’s 200M. Santhini was slightly ahead past the bend and she powered away in the straight, while Anilda Thomas also overtook a struggling Dutee.

Lalita did a Jaisha in the 3000M steeplechase, leaving the former National record holder Sudha Singh way behind. At one point, the Maharashtra athlete threatened to break her own national record of 9:35.37 set at Incheon, but in the end, she settled for 9:42.63, better than the World Championship norm of 9:44.00.

Kerala swept the women’s triple jump, with Sheena N V (13.27M), Amitha Baby (13.11) and M A Prajusha (13.04) taking the top three spots. Prajusha’s husband K P Bimin had to settle for silver in the men’s pole vault, won by Kundan of Services at 5.00 metres.

Karnataka’s Balakrishna claimed the bronze in the event, after clearing 4.90. Karnataka also had a silver on the day, in the women’s 4x400M relay. In the absence of Ashwini Akkunji, who decided to stay away, the quartet of Reena George, Arpitha M, G K Vijaya Kumari and M R Poovamma finished behind runaway winners Kerala.

Results: Men: 200M: Dharambir (Haryana) 21.12 seconds, (NMR. Old: 21.20, Ajay Raj Singh, 2001), 1; Manikanda Arumugam (Tamil Nadu) 21.53, 2; Amiya Kumar Mallick (Odisha) 21.57, 3. 800M: Sajeesh Joseph (Kerala) 1:53.68, 1; Jinson Johnson (Services) 1:53.88, 2; Mohammed Afsal (Kerala) 1:54.08, 3.

3000M steeplechase: Naveen Kumar (Services) 8:52.54, 1; Jaiveer Singh (Services) 8:54.67, 2; Sachin Patel (Maharashtra) 9:00.27, 3. Pole vault: Kundan (Services) 5.00 metres, 1; Bimin K P (Kerala) 4.95, 2; P Balakrishna (Karnataka) 4.90, 3. 4x400M relay: Tamil Nadu (Balamurugan, Kumar Mohan, Raja, Deepan Chakravarthi) 3:11.26, 1; Kerala3:11.63, 2; Maharashtra 3:12.91, 3.

Women: 200M: V Santhini (Kerala) 24.11 seconds, 1; Anilda Thomas (Kerala) 24.27, 2; Dutee Chand (Odisha) 24.56, 3. 800M: Tintu Luka (Kerala) 2:01.86 (NMR. Old: 2:03.08, Rosakutty, 1997), 1; Gomathi (Tamil Nadu) 2:05.09, 1; Sini A Markose (Kerala0 2:06.37, 3. 3000M steeplechase: Lalita Babar (Maharashtra) 9:42.63 (NMR. Old: 10:40.81, Priyanka Singh, 2011), 1; Sudha Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 10:04.30, 2; Jayashree Borgi (Maharashtra) 10:28.44, 3.

Triple jump: Sheena N V (Kerala) 13.27 metres, 1; Amitha Baby 13.11, 2; Prajusha M A (Kerala) 13.04, 3.

Discus throw: Navjit Kaur (Punjab) 50.52 metres, 1; Sandeep Kumari (Haryana) 46.92, 2; Praveen Kumari (Rajasthan) 46.16, 3. 4x400M relay: Kerala (Anu Mariam Jose, Tintu Luka, Anu Raghavan, Anilda Thomas) 3:35.34 (NMR. Old: 3:36.25, AP, 2002), 1; Karnataka (Reena George, Arpitha M, Vijaya Kumari G K, M R Poovamma) 3:42.66, 2; Haryana 3:43.83, 3. Heptathlon: Swapna Barman (Bengal) 5288 points, 1; Liksy Joseph (Kerala) 5263, 2; Niksy Joseph (Kerala) 5055, 3.