Khyati clinches Karnataka's first gold; Shankar shines

Pole vaulter Khyati Vakharia claimed Karnataka’s first gold on the penultimate day of the the Inter-State athletics championships here on Monday.

Khyati soared over the bar at 3.70 metres to leave Punjab’s Kiranbir Kaur (3.40) and Manjula (3.30) of Tamil Nadu way behind.

On a day dominated by field events, Tejaswin Shankar sparked with a superb show in high jump. The Delhi youngster cleared 2.23 metres, just three centimetres short of his own national record, to win the gold and create a meet record. Karnataka’s Chetan B, who had equalled his personal best of 2.20 in the Asian Championships last week, claimed silver with a 2.19M effort.

Big names were absent in many events. The 400M runners who were part of India’s gold-winning quartet at Bhubaneswar were all missing from the quartermile heats here. Also missing the event was steeplechaser Sudha Singh, who won the gold in Bhubaneswar.

Chinta Yadav, representing Athletics Federation of India, claimed the gold in a  lacklustre 10:10.22. The women’s triple jump also lacked sheen, with Kerala’s N V Sheena taking the title with an effort of 12.78M. Karnataka’s Joyline Lobo won silver with a 12.52M effort.

Annu Rani was also below-par in women’s javelin, with the UP thrower claiming the gold with a mediocre 54.29M. Poonam Rani (51.4) of Haryana won silver and Karnataka’s Rashmi Shetty (47.76) bagged the bronze.

Results: Men: 3000M steeplechase: Jaiveer (Haryana) 8:53.04, 1; Naveen (Haryana) 8:57.23, 2; Karamvir (Haryana) 8:59.12, 3.

High jump: Tejaswin Shankar (Delhi) 2.23 metres (NMR. Old: 2.22, Harishankar Roy, 2007), 1; Chetan B (Karnataka) 2.19, 2; Ajay Kumar (Haryana) 2.17, 3.

Discus throw: Dharamraj Yadav (UP) 55.55 metres, 1; Prabhjot Singh (Punjab) 52.91, 2; Baljinder Singh (Punjab) 51.59, 3.

4x100M relay: Tamil Nadu 41.13, 1; Maharashtra 41.25, 2; Kerala 41.51, 3.

Women: 3000M steeplechase: Chinta Yadav (AFI) 10:10.22, 1; Vijay Laxmi (UP) 10:41; Varsha Bhawari (Maharashtra) 10:48.37, 3.

Pole vault: Khyati Vakharia (Karnataka) 3.70 metres, 1; Kiranbir Kaur (Punjab) 3.40, 2; Manjula (Tamil Nadu) 3.30, 3.

Triple jump: Sheena N V (Kerala) 12.78 metres, 1; Joyline Lobo (Karnataka) 12.52, 2; G Karthika (Andhra Pradesh) 12.51, 3.

Javelin throw: Annu Rani (UP) 54.29 metres, 1; Poonam Rani (Haryana) 51.14, 2; Rashmi Shetty (Karnataka) 47.76, 3.
20000M walk: Soumya B (Delhi) 1:42:23, 1; Karamjit Kaur (Punjab) 1:44:47, 2; Priyanka (UP) 1:45:44, 3.

4x100 relay: Kerala 46.75 seconds, 1; Karnataka 47.50, 2; Maharashtra 47.79, 3.