<p>As ever, she was the last one to pack her bags. And as ever, she had to squeeze in an additional piece of yellow metal into her kitty. For Sahana Kumari, winning is almost routine these days but the emotions that come along with it aren’t quite the same.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The Karnataka high jumper was a cut above once again on the national scene as she pocketed the gold medal on the second day of the 55th Inter-State Championships. But well after her success, she sat alone, quietly in the vast Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, trying to compose herself amidst a high tide of emotions.<br /><br />It was her fifth straight gold medal in the Inter-State meet and 10th overall but for a person keen to challenge herself at every competition, the result here fell short of her expectations. Sahana cleared 1.80 metres, easily towering above her rivals – Haryana’s Jyoti was 10 cm behind in second place -- but there was no joy on her face.<br /><br />“I don’t what to say, where to go,” Sahana said, echoing the sentiments she had expressed when she won the gold at the Federation Cup for the seventh time, in Mangaluru two months ago. “With no coach to guide us, we are in a bad position. Still, there is some progress,” she added, looking at the result, which was four centimetres better than her Mangaluru effort.<br /><br />Sahana was flawless in her early jumps, clearing 1.73 and 1.76. She fouled her first attempt at 1.80 before going over in the second. And three failures at 1.83 halted her for the day. “I will keep trying and keep going, as far as I can,” she said, sounding hopeful and desperate at the same time.<br /><br />The second day didn’t bring forth happy news for other leading lights as well. Tintu Luka struck gold in the 800M but couldn’t come close to her best in a one-horse race. A 58-plus first lap pegged her back and she eventually finished in 2:03.23. “I might have misjudged the early pace a little. Still, I could have done better,” said the Kerala runner, who is unlikely to run the 400M here.<br /><br />Pedestrian time<br /><br />Tintu’s team-mate Jinson Johnson, who swept the recent Asian Grand Prix series, was a comfortable winner in the men’s 800M, though in a pedestrian time of 1:51.02. With the Services meet scheduled in August and the World Military Games in October, Jinson has time to achieve his targets.<br /><br />Renjith Maheswary was another performer enveloped by disappointment on the day. The Kerala triple jumper won the gold in 16.39 metres, leaving Punjab’s Arpinder Singh (16.30) in silver position. “This is just not good enough, I need to go further,” said Renjith.<br /><br />Jithin Paul added another gold to the Kerala collection, coming close to his personal best of 50.41 in the 400M hurdles. With a terrific burst of speed past the final hurdle, he timed 50.55 seconds.<br /><br />Haryana’s Dharambir Singh and Odisha’s Srabani Nanda were convincing winners in the men’s and women’s 200M races. Dharambir was superb in the straight while Srabani ran a fine bend to outclass the opposition.<br /><br />DH News Service<br /><br />Results: Men: 200M: Dharambir Singh (Haryana) 21.34 seconds, 1; Vikas Gulia (Delhi) 21.55, 2; Rahul Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 21.94, 3.<br /><br />800M: Jinson Johnson (Kerala) 1:51.02, 1; Ajay Kumari Sarohi (Uttar Pradesh) 1:51.36, 2; Sajeesh Joseph (Kerala) 1:52.43, 3.<br /><br />400M hurdles: Jithin Paul (Kerala) 50.55 seconds, 1; Bastin Joseph (Assam) 52.35, 2; Vikas Chandran (Manipur) 52.39, 3.<br /><br />Triple jump: Renjith Maheswary (Kerala) 16.39 metres, 1; Arpinder Singh (Punjab) 16.30, 2; S Mohd Zuber (Tamil Nadu) 15.65, 3.<br /><br />Javelin throw: Neeraj Chopra (Haryana) 77.33 metres, 1; Krishnanand (Uttar Pradesh) 71.09, 2; Ajay Kumar (Rajasthan) 70.43, 3.<br /><br />Decathlon: Amolak Singh (Gujarat) 6370 points, 1; Thangarasu (Tamil Nadu) 6349, 2; Raneesh V V (Kerala) 6336, 3.<br /><br />Women: 200M: Srabani Nanda (Odisha) 23.92 seconds, 1; Himashree Roy (Bengal) 24.93, 2; Priyanka Panwar (Uttar Pradesh) 25.01, 3.<br /><br />800M: Tintu Luka (Kerala) 2:03.23, 1; Sushma Devi (Haryana) 2:05.05, 2; Gomathi (Tamil Nadu) 2:07.00, 3.<br /><br />400M hurdles: Santosh Kumari (Haryana) 1:01.06, 1; Sayana P O (Kerala) 1:02.88, 2; M Loganayaki (Tamil Nadu) 1:03.15, 3.<br /><br />High jump: Sahana Kumari (Karnataka) 1.80 metres, 1; Jyoti (Haryana) 1.70, 2; Mallika Mondal (Bengal) 1.70, 3.<br /><br />20km walk: Rani Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) 1:49:30.40, 1; Priyanka (Uttar Pradesh) 1:54:43.70, 2; Femi George (Kerala) 2:06:38.40, 3.</p>
<p>As ever, she was the last one to pack her bags. And as ever, she had to squeeze in an additional piece of yellow metal into her kitty. For Sahana Kumari, winning is almost routine these days but the emotions that come along with it aren’t quite the same.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The Karnataka high jumper was a cut above once again on the national scene as she pocketed the gold medal on the second day of the 55th Inter-State Championships. But well after her success, she sat alone, quietly in the vast Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, trying to compose herself amidst a high tide of emotions.<br /><br />It was her fifth straight gold medal in the Inter-State meet and 10th overall but for a person keen to challenge herself at every competition, the result here fell short of her expectations. Sahana cleared 1.80 metres, easily towering above her rivals – Haryana’s Jyoti was 10 cm behind in second place -- but there was no joy on her face.<br /><br />“I don’t what to say, where to go,” Sahana said, echoing the sentiments she had expressed when she won the gold at the Federation Cup for the seventh time, in Mangaluru two months ago. “With no coach to guide us, we are in a bad position. Still, there is some progress,” she added, looking at the result, which was four centimetres better than her Mangaluru effort.<br /><br />Sahana was flawless in her early jumps, clearing 1.73 and 1.76. She fouled her first attempt at 1.80 before going over in the second. And three failures at 1.83 halted her for the day. “I will keep trying and keep going, as far as I can,” she said, sounding hopeful and desperate at the same time.<br /><br />The second day didn’t bring forth happy news for other leading lights as well. Tintu Luka struck gold in the 800M but couldn’t come close to her best in a one-horse race. A 58-plus first lap pegged her back and she eventually finished in 2:03.23. “I might have misjudged the early pace a little. Still, I could have done better,” said the Kerala runner, who is unlikely to run the 400M here.<br /><br />Pedestrian time<br /><br />Tintu’s team-mate Jinson Johnson, who swept the recent Asian Grand Prix series, was a comfortable winner in the men’s 800M, though in a pedestrian time of 1:51.02. With the Services meet scheduled in August and the World Military Games in October, Jinson has time to achieve his targets.<br /><br />Renjith Maheswary was another performer enveloped by disappointment on the day. The Kerala triple jumper won the gold in 16.39 metres, leaving Punjab’s Arpinder Singh (16.30) in silver position. “This is just not good enough, I need to go further,” said Renjith.<br /><br />Jithin Paul added another gold to the Kerala collection, coming close to his personal best of 50.41 in the 400M hurdles. With a terrific burst of speed past the final hurdle, he timed 50.55 seconds.<br /><br />Haryana’s Dharambir Singh and Odisha’s Srabani Nanda were convincing winners in the men’s and women’s 200M races. Dharambir was superb in the straight while Srabani ran a fine bend to outclass the opposition.<br /><br />DH News Service<br /><br />Results: Men: 200M: Dharambir Singh (Haryana) 21.34 seconds, 1; Vikas Gulia (Delhi) 21.55, 2; Rahul Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 21.94, 3.<br /><br />800M: Jinson Johnson (Kerala) 1:51.02, 1; Ajay Kumari Sarohi (Uttar Pradesh) 1:51.36, 2; Sajeesh Joseph (Kerala) 1:52.43, 3.<br /><br />400M hurdles: Jithin Paul (Kerala) 50.55 seconds, 1; Bastin Joseph (Assam) 52.35, 2; Vikas Chandran (Manipur) 52.39, 3.<br /><br />Triple jump: Renjith Maheswary (Kerala) 16.39 metres, 1; Arpinder Singh (Punjab) 16.30, 2; S Mohd Zuber (Tamil Nadu) 15.65, 3.<br /><br />Javelin throw: Neeraj Chopra (Haryana) 77.33 metres, 1; Krishnanand (Uttar Pradesh) 71.09, 2; Ajay Kumar (Rajasthan) 70.43, 3.<br /><br />Decathlon: Amolak Singh (Gujarat) 6370 points, 1; Thangarasu (Tamil Nadu) 6349, 2; Raneesh V V (Kerala) 6336, 3.<br /><br />Women: 200M: Srabani Nanda (Odisha) 23.92 seconds, 1; Himashree Roy (Bengal) 24.93, 2; Priyanka Panwar (Uttar Pradesh) 25.01, 3.<br /><br />800M: Tintu Luka (Kerala) 2:03.23, 1; Sushma Devi (Haryana) 2:05.05, 2; Gomathi (Tamil Nadu) 2:07.00, 3.<br /><br />400M hurdles: Santosh Kumari (Haryana) 1:01.06, 1; Sayana P O (Kerala) 1:02.88, 2; M Loganayaki (Tamil Nadu) 1:03.15, 3.<br /><br />High jump: Sahana Kumari (Karnataka) 1.80 metres, 1; Jyoti (Haryana) 1.70, 2; Mallika Mondal (Bengal) 1.70, 3.<br /><br />20km walk: Rani Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) 1:49:30.40, 1; Priyanka (Uttar Pradesh) 1:54:43.70, 2; Femi George (Kerala) 2:06:38.40, 3.</p>