Annu Rani, Nirmala seal World Championship berth on final day

Javelin thrower Annu Rani and quartermiler Nirmala Sheoran broke through the qualification barrier to gain entry to the World Championships in London on the final day of the Federation Cup athletics championships here on Sunday.

Annu smashed her own national record of 60.01, which she had set in Lucknow last year, with a distance of 61.86 metres in her fist attempt. Her effort left behind Haryana’s Poonam Rani Singh (55.79) and UP’s Suman Devi (55.03) by a healthy margin. The entry standard for the Worlds in women’s javelin was set at 61.40M.

The keenly-anticipated women’s 400M unfolded on predictable lines. Nirmala sprinted her way to a new meet record and World Championships berth, timing 51.28 seconds, leaving Karnataka’s seasoned M R Poovamma (52.70) behind. West Bengal’s Debashree Mazumdar finished third. Jisna Mathew, who had beaten Poovamma this season, finished fifth in 53.65s.

Delhi’s 19-year-old Amoj Jacob beat experienced Arokia Rajiv for the 400M gold with a personal best of 46.26 seconds. Amoj, who had won the 800M earlier, completed a double. Kerala’s Sachin Roby finished with the bronze.

Triple jumper Arpinder Singh of Haryana generated some excitement but had to settle for 16.75M for the gold, beating Kerala’s Karthik U and Punjab’s Malkit Singh in the process. Arpinder, who has a personal best of 17.17M achieved in 2014, missed World Championship qualification by a mere five centimetres. The Olympic year had proved frustrating for Arpinder as he could not cross even 16 metres.

Dutee Chand missed the World Championships mark in the women’s 100M but avenged her 200M defeat to Srabani Nanda with 11.48 seconds for the gold medal.

In the men’s 100M, Amiya Kumar Mallick continued his domination with a win in 10.51 seconds to pip Jyotisankar Debnath and Anuroop John of Kerala. There was another impressive performance from Nayana James, who after her gold in long jump, came on top in the 100M hurdles (13.96 seconds).
Swapna Barman of Bengal won the heptathlon gold with a fine show, tallying 5897 points while G Lakshmanan and L Suriya completed distance doubles, winning the 10000M on the final day.

Results: Men: 100M: Amiya Kumar Mallick (Odisha) 10.51 seconds,1; Jyotisankar Debnath (Andhra Pradesh) 10.57, 2; Anuroop John (Kerala) 10.60, 3.

400M: Amoj Jacob (Delhi) 46.26 seconds, 1; Arokia Rajiv (Tamil Nadu) 46.64, 2; Sachin Roby (Kerala) 46.87, 3.   

1500M: Jinson Johnson (Kerala) 3:48.49, 1; Ajay Kumar Saroj (Uttar Pradesh) 3:48.91, 2; Siddhanta Adhikari (Maharashtra) 3:50.84, 3.

10000M: G Lakshmanan (Tamil Nadu) 29:23.46, 1; Gopi T (Kerala) 29:55.67, 2; Kalidas Hirave 29:57.94, 3.

110M hurdles: Prem Kumar (Telangana) 14:34 seconds, 1; Suresh (Tamil Nadu) 14.35, 2;  T. Balamurugan (Tamil Nadu) 14.52, 3.

Triple jump: Arpinder Sigh (Haryana) 16.75 metres, 1; Karthik U (Kerala) 16.37, 2; Malkit Singh (Punjab) 16.30, 3.

Hammer throw: Niraj Kumar (Rajasthan) 66.09 metres, 1; Sukhdev Singh (Haryana) 64.16, 2; Bajinder Singh Baj (Punjab) 63.35, 3.

Women: 100M: Dutee Chand (Odisha) 11.48 seconds, 1; Srabani Nanda (Odisha) 11.57, 2;  Merlin Joseph (Kerala) 11.68, 3.

400M: Nirmala Sheroan (Haryana) 51.28 seconds, 1; M R Poovamma (Karnataka) 52.70, 2; Debashree Mazumdar (West Bengal) 53.59, 3.

1500M: Chitra PU (Kerala) 4:26.48, 1; Monika Choudhary (Delhi) 4:27.67, 2; Pramila Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) 4:27.90, 3.

10000M: L Suriya (Tamil Nadu) 33:12.67, 1; Sanjivani Jadhav (Maharashtra) 33:15.77, 2; Meenu (Delhi) 34:17.11, 3.

100M hurdles: Nayana James (Andhra Pradesh) 13.96 seconds, 1; Ankita Gosavi (Maharashtra) 14.00, 2; Prajna S Prakash (Karnataka) 14.03, 3.  

Discus throw: Kamalpreet Kaur (Punjab) 54.33 metres, 1; Seema Punia (Punjab) 53.86, 2; Himani Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 53.24, 3.

Javelin: Annu Rani (Uttar Pradesh) 61.86M (National record. Old: 60.01, Annu, 2016), 1; Poonam Rani Singh (Haryana) 55.79, 2; Suman Devi (Uttar Pradesh) 55.03, 3.

Heptathlon: Swapna Barman (West Bengal) 5897 points, 1; Purnima Hembram (Odisha) 5632, 2; Liksy Joseph (Kerala) 5476, 3.