Harshith soars to high jump gold

Battling an injury and still standing tall in the high jump pit, Shashidhar Harshith proved he was very much a talent to be reckoned with as he struck gold for Karnataka on the second day of the 29th Junior National Athletics Championships here.

A consistent performer over the last several years, Harshith was included in the National camp to be trained by Russian coach Evgen Nikitin but a fracture on his right foot in January led to a drop in performance and subsequently, he was removed from the list.
Nikitin was among those in attendance on Wednesday as Harshith, struggling with a pulled back muscle, overcame the pain barrier to win the gold in the Under-20 section with a meet record of 2.13 metres.

It was Karnataka’s second gold of the day, after Meghana Shetty had nailed the top spot in the 100M hurdles for under-20 girls earlier in the afternoon. The day also witnessed a national record in the under-18 girls’ high jump, with Bengal’s Swapna Barman soaring to a new mark.

But as twilight descended at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, it was Harshith who cornered the spotlight. The 19-year-old was clearly in pain as he vied with Kerala’s Sreenith Mohan and Haryana’s Rahul for the top spot.

Rahul dropped out after failing at 2.09, a height Harshith passed. He then went past 2.11 on his first attempt while Sreenith went over on his third chance. At 2.13 Harshith succeeded on his third attempt and Sreenith’s failure ensured the gold for the Karnataka lad. High on adrenaline, Harshith then attempted 2.18, a centimetre above his personal best and also the national record but failed three times.

“I changed my technique a month back and am still adjusting to it,” said Harshith, a third semester Civil Engineering student of East West Institute of Technology. “I was struggling with pain and competed here only because it was in Bangalore,” said the Krishnamurthy trainee, explaining his slip this year was due to injuries.

Meghana had to ward off a strong challenge from Kerala’s Mariya Juliet to win the hurdles gold in 14.88 seconds. The wind too was a factor as the Karnataka girl recovered from a slow start to keep out Juliet’s charge.

“I didn’t get going today, I could have done better,” said the I B.Com student of St Joseph’s College of Commerce, who trains under SAI coach M V Mathai. Meghana has a personal best of 14.54, set while winning the South Asian meet in Ranchi last month.
 Swapna erased Kavya Muthanna’s 2004 mark of 1.70, clearing 1.71 metres in the under-18 high jump. The 17-year-old from Kolkata has been enjoying a good season, having won the gold in the Asian Schools meet in Malaysia and the silver at the South Asian meet, and she was hardly challenged on the day.

Besides Harshith’s and Meghana’s gold medals, Karnataka won a silver and two bronze medals on the day. Sriom Patel clinched silver in the 5000M for boy’s under-20 while Santosh (under-18, 110M hurdles) and Rahul N Astagi (under-18, 10000M walk) came up with bronze medal performances.

DH News Service

Results: Boys: Under-20: 5000M: Rajendra Bind (Uttar Pradesh) 14:57.61, 1; Sriom Patel (Karnataka) 15:01.04, 2; Albin Sunny Kerala) 15:28.43, 3.
110M hurdles: Nasimuddeen (Kerala) 14.38 seconds, 1; Jashanjot Singh (Punjab) 14.51 seconds, 2; Tarundeep Singh (Punjab) 14.57, 3.
High jump: Harshith S (Karnataka) 2.13 metres (NMR. Old: 2.12, L Yograj, 2008), 1; Sreenith Mohan (Kerala) 2.11, 2; Rahul (Haryana) 2.06, 3.
Under-18: 110M hurdles: Maymon Poulose (Kerala) 14.16 seconds, 1; Aftab Alam (Maharashtra) 14.38, 2; Santosh (Karnataka) 14.49, 3.
Long jump: Sirajudheen C (Kerala) 7.20 metres, 1; P S Vishnu (Tamil Nadu) 6.97, 2; Abul Hasan (Uttar Pradesh) 6.97, 3.
Hammer throw: Prakash Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 65.55 metres, 1; Sabeel Ahmed (Uttar Pradesh) 63.33, 2; Vivek Kumar Singh (Jharkhand) 63.12, 3.
10000M walk: Mahendra Pratap (Gujarat) 44:41.28, 1; Shailesh Kimar (Madhya Pradesh) 44:41.35, 2; Rahul N Astagi (Karnataka) 47:25.09, 3.
Under-16:  100M hurdles: Debarajun M (Bengal) 13.35 seconds, 1; Md Tarif (Manipur) 13.50, 2; Shamnas K (Kerala) 13.69, 3.
Shot put: Mankirat Singh (Punjab) 16.14 metres, 1; Saddam Hussain (Delhi) 16.08, 2; Prashant B (Uttar Pradesh) 15.38, 3.
Hammer throw: Ashish Jakhar (Haryana) 58.72 metres, 1; Meraj Ali (Uttar Pradesh) 58.37, 2; Mohd Arshlan (Uttar Pradesh) 57.64, 3.
Javelin throw: Rajesh Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 62.58 metres, 1; Vijay Lakra (Jharkhand) 58.06, 2; Jay Singh (Madhya Pradesh) 57.89, 3.
Girls: Under-20: 5000M: Pooja Warade (Maharashtra) 17:40.79, 1; Thara M D (Kerala) 18:03.75, 2; Vibitha P D (Kerala) 18:17.03, 3.
100M hurdles: Meghana Shetty (Karnataka) 14.88 seconds, 1; Mariya Juliet (Kerala) 15.02, 2; Arya T s (Kerala) 15.56, 3.
10000M walk: Shanti Kumari (Delhi) 53:45.49, 1; Saroj Rani (Punjab) 56:20.97, 2; Mary Margari (Kerala) 56:21.08, 3.
Under-18: 3000M: Vidya K K (Kerala) 10:30.56, 1; Arti Patil (Maharashtra) 10:36.50, 2; Varsha M V (Kerala) 10:45.71, 3. 100M hurdles: Dibi Sebastian (Kerala) 14.76 seconds, 1; Rajeshwari B (Orissa) 14.78, 2; Soumya Varghese (Kerala) 14.97, 3. High jump: Swapna Barman (Bengal) 1.71 metres (National Record. Old: 1.70, Kavya Muthanna, 2004), 1; Juelly Badhe (Maharashtra) 1.65, 2; Aungkali (Nagaland) 1.63, 3. Javelin throw: Gopika Narayanan (Kerala) 43.17 metres, 1; Anju Patel (Uttar Pradesh) 41.73, 2; Damayanthi M (Orissa) 40.30, 3.
Under-16: 100M hurdles: Shivangi D R (Delhi) 15.00 seconds, 1; S Priyadarshini (Tamil Nadu) 15.00, 2; Sayana P O (Kerala) 15.16, 3. Javelin throw: Vanshika (Uttar Pradesh) 36.35 metres, 1; Vishnupriya P (Kerala) 31.44, 2; Prathibha Tigga (Jharkhand) 30.98, 3.