Abhinaya jumps to gold

Bengaluru: An ankle injury in the take-off leg (left) in early 2023 meant high jumper Abhinaya S Shetty had to wait two long years to feel close to her best again. 

On Saturday at the Anju Bobby Sports High Performance Centre in Kengeri, the Karnataka girl representing JSW in the 4th Indian Open Jumps Competition here, tapped into her old self by clearing 1.80 metres to win gold in the women’s section. 

“Though my personal best is 1.84m (in 2022), I was able to touch 1.80M after a really long time,” said the 25-year-old Abhinaya. 

“The last two years have been tough following the injury during training. But winning bronze with a 1.77m jump at the National Games last month gave me confidence and I’m happy to have improved today.” 

Abhinaya was accompanied on the podium by Supriya SB of Railways (1.74m) and Pallavi Patil of Karnataka (1.74m) in the silver and bronze medal positions respectively. 

The men’s triple jump competition saw National champion Abdulla Aboobacker (in pic) and National record holder Praveen Chithravel go head-to-head for the top honours. 

Chithravel, who looked to be in better rhythm, got ahead of his main competitor by touching the mark of 17.13m in his fourth attempt.

Aboobacker, on the other hand, set the bar at 16.64m in his first jump but struggled later which resulted in four fouls in a row. 

With one last attempt left, the 29-year-old got his act together right in time to equal his personal best of 17.19m and snatch the gold away from Chithravel who had to be content with a silver. Haryana’s Ashok Yadav took home a bronze (15.94m). 

On the day, Karnataka jumpers collected two gold, a silver and two bronze across events. 

Results (only winners and Karnataka medallists): Men’s Long jump: Sunny Kumar (Bhr) 7.80m. High jump: Sarvesh Anil Kushare (Mah) 2.19m. 

Triple jump: Abdulla Aboobacker (Air Force) 17.19m. 

Pole vault: Gokul Nath (TN) 4.90m. 

Women: Long jump: Moumita Mondal (Reliance) 6.44m. 

High jump: Abhinaya S Shetty (JSW) 1.80m, 1; Pallavi Patil (Kar) 1.74m, 3.   

Triple jump: Sheena NV (Ker) 13.04m. 

Pole vault: Sindhushree G (Kar) 3.80m. 

U-20: Boys: Long jump: Nitin Pal (MP) 7.11m. 

High jump: Shyam Sunder (Raj) 2.06m. 

Triple jump: Yuvaraj K (TN) 14.83m. 

Pole vault: Dev Meena (MP) 5.15m.

Girls: Long jump: Deesha Ganapathy (Kar) 6.09m. 

Pole vault: Nitika Anup Akare (MP) 3.70m. 

U-18: Boys: Long jump: Charan Kumar Banoth (Tel) 6.50m. 

High jump: R Sujan (TN) 1.90m, 1; Rohith Kumar (Kar) 1.80m, 3.

Girls: Long jump: Bavatharani Elangova (TN) 5.16m, 1; Deesha Shree L (Kar) 5.09m 2. 

High jump: Prachi (Har) 1.73m.  

Abdulla Aboobacker. DH Photo