JOIN USDominant Kerala retain title; Roy disappoints
The spark of a record or even an Olympic qualification eluded the fourth day of the 52nd Inter-State National Championships that ended in familiar, triumphant fashion for Kerala at the Gachibowli Stadium here on Tuesday.
After Sahana Kumari got the championships off to a flying start on day one with a national record and Olympic qualification norm in high jump, little of note was witnessed on the subsequent days. On the final day, no one even came close to the standards, with ill-luck striking down the one who was expected to make a serious attempt.
Sinimole Paulose, second in the 800M, was aiming for the time that mattered in the women's 1500M but she had to pull out of the race due to a bout of food-poisoning, leading to a colourless contest that was won by Jharkhand's Jhuma Khatun in 4:28.31.
Nitin Kumar of Delhi edged Tamil Nadu's Manikanda Arumugham to claim the men's 200 title in 21.44 seconds while Manisha, who was disqualified for a false start in the 100M, warded off a late burst from Satti Geetha to take home the women's 200M in 24.26 seconds.
Commonwealth Games silver medallist Harwant Kaur was unimpressive in the discus circle, though she won the gold at 55.92 metres. Two of her fellow medallists – Krishna Poonia and Seema Antil – have already made the Olympics 'A' standard and Harwant, as such, needed to meet the tougher mark (62.00 metres) to join them.
Disappointing
Sushmita Singha Roy too had to return disappointed in the heptathlon, after she ended 299 points short of the Olympic 'B' standard.
Requring 5950, the Bengal athlete had a tally of 5651, with a poor 200M on the first day hitting her chances hard.
M A Prajusha, struggling in the long jump pit, came close to her best in triple jump. The Kerala jumper topped with an effort of 13.66, as against her best of 13.72 while her team-mates picked up both the 4x400M relay gold medals to apply finishing touches to their gold rush.
Kerala's 192 points placed them way ahead of second-placed Uttar Pradesh on the team championship stakes, and fetched them their sixth straight overall crown. Satinder Singh, who won the 400M hurdles in 49.99 seconds, was adjudged the best athlete in the men's section.
Tintu Luka, the 800M champion, won the corresponding honours among women.
Results: Men: 200M: Nitin Kumar (Delhi) 21.44 seconds, 1; Manikanda Arumugham (Tamil Nadu) 21.60, 2; Ritesh Anand (Jharkhand) 21.68, 3.
1500M: Sandeep Kumar (Haryana) 3:42.76, 1; C Hamza (Kerala) 3:45.67, 2; Pranjal Gogoi (Assam) 3:49.88, 3.
10000M: Kheta Ram (Rajasthan) 29:49.71, 1; Suresh Kumar Patel (Uttar Pradesh) 29:57.11, 2; V L Dangi (Rajasthan) 30:13.55, 3.
110M hurdles: A Suresh (Jharkhand) 13.96 seconds, 1; Balamurugan (Tamil Nadu) 14.18, 2; Prem Kumar (Tamil Nadu) 14.62, 3.
Shot put: Shakti Singh (Rajasthan) 18.25 metres, 1; Satyendra (Uttar Prdesh) 17.83, 2; Jagroop Singh (Punjab) 17.66, 3.
4x400M relay: Kerala 3:14.84, 1; Madhya Pradesh 3:19.78, 2; Andhra Pradesh 3:24.71, 3.
Women: 200M: Manisha (Haryana) 24.26 seconds, 1; Satti Geetha (Andhra Pradesh) 24.33, 2; Merlin K Joseph (Kerala) 24.88, 3.
1500M: Jhuma Khatun (Jharkhand) 4:28.31, 1; Bindu S R (Kerala) 4:28.53, 2; Fulan Khatun (Bengal) 4:40.23, 3.
10000M: Monika Athre (Maharashtra) 37:03.97, 1; Manisha Salunke (Maharashtra) 37:54.95, 2; Archana Pal (Uttar Pradesh) 38:57.08, 3.
100M hurdles: Anchu M M (Kerala) 14.00 seconds, 1; Purnima Hemram (Odisha) 14.35, 2; Meghana Shetty (Karnataka) 14.51, 3.
Triple jump: M A Prajusha (Kerala) 13.66 metres, 1; Shraddha Ghule (Maharashtra) 13.18, 2; Amitha Baby (Kerala) 12.72, 3.
Discus throw: Harwant Kaur (Punjab) 55.92 metres, 1; Praveen Kumari (Rajasthan) 46.11, 2; Santosh (Haryana) 40.39, 3.
Heptathlon: Sushmita Singha Roy (Bengal) 5651, 1; Liksy Joseph (Kerala) 4941, 2; Niksy Joseph (Kerala) 4706, 3.
4x400M relay: Kerala 3:45.06, 1; Bengal 3:50.87, 2; Andhra Pradesh 3:51.03, 3.
Team championships: Kerala (192 points) 1; Uttar Pradesh (82) 2; Tamil Nadu (79) 3.
Best athlete – Men: Satinder Singh (Punjab). Women: Tintu Luka (Kerala).