<p>Manikanta Hoblidhar from Services sizzled on the opening day of the 62nd National Open Athletics Championship, breaking the national record in the men's 100m semifinal event at the Kanteerava Stadium on Wednesday. </p>.<p>The 22-year-old, on his senior debut, set a time of 10.23sec in the afternoon session after clocking 10.50sec in the heats. With this effort, the Army man broke a seven-year old record, previously held by Amiya Kumar Mallick of Odisha, who clocked 10.26sec in the 2016 National Federation Cup. </p>.Career in sports: Play it safe.<p>Manikanta strode into the lead from the start on lane three and never looked back. </p>.<p>Manikanta finished ahead of Railways' Elakkiyadasan K (10.49sec) and Tamil Nadu's Sai Siddharth (10.55sec). </p>.<p>"I spent my childhood in Udupi. I was introduced to running in the sports hostel. I came to Bengaluru and spent a year, before I joined the army. I believe I can do better in the finals tomorrow," Manikanta told DH.</p>.<p>"I ate Anna Saaru (rasam rice) for lunch, guess that's the power of Karnataka's Anna Saaru!" Manikanta added on a jovial note.</p>.<p>Manikanta's coach Aboobacker T was in awe of his ward, "He has been working hard in Hyderabad's Army node. "He ran (100m in) 10.31sec in the Services meet last month, and I hope he can cross 10.1sec soon." </p>.<p>Maharashtra's Dinesh came up with a terrific finish after phasing his race perfectly in the men's 10000m final, beating Services duo Mohan Saini and Sandeep Singh.</p>.<p>In the women's 10,000m final, Himachal Pradesh's Seema and Railways' Kavita Yadav were neck and neck until the final lap. Seema, who had kept just enough pace in reserve, surged ahead to finish 9sec in front. UP's Phoolan Pal rounded off the podium. </p>.<p>Dev Meena massive effort of 5.05m won him gold in the men's pole vault final.</p>.<p>Police Sports Control's Anmol Kaur finished on top in the women's hammer throw final, finishing ahead of Tanya Chaudhary and Sarita R Singh.</p>.<p class="ListBody"><span class="bold"><strong>Results (finals only): Men: 10,000m</strong></span>: Dinesh (Maharashtra, 29:10.11) 1; Mohan Saini (SSCB, 29:10.82) 2; Sandeep Singh (SSCB, 29:11.21) 3.</p>.<p class="ListBody"><span class="bold"><strong>Pole vault</strong></span>: Dev Meena (Madhya Pradesh, 5.05m) 1; Shekhar Pandey (Uttar Pradesh, 4.95m) 2; Tanuj Kumar (Services, 4.85m) 3. </p>.<p class="ListBody"><span class="bold"><strong>Women: 10,000m</strong></span>: Seema (Himachal Pradesh, 33:26.90) 1; Kavita Yadav (Railways, 33:35.57) 2; Phoolan Pal (Uttar Pradesh, 34:55.13) 3.</p>.<p class="ListBody"><span class="bold"><strong>Hammer throw</strong></span>: Anmol Kaur (Police Sports Control, 60.19m) 1; Tanya Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh, 59.04 m) 2; Sarita R Singh (Railways, 58.42m) 3. </p>
<p>Manikanta Hoblidhar from Services sizzled on the opening day of the 62nd National Open Athletics Championship, breaking the national record in the men's 100m semifinal event at the Kanteerava Stadium on Wednesday. </p>.<p>The 22-year-old, on his senior debut, set a time of 10.23sec in the afternoon session after clocking 10.50sec in the heats. With this effort, the Army man broke a seven-year old record, previously held by Amiya Kumar Mallick of Odisha, who clocked 10.26sec in the 2016 National Federation Cup. </p>.Career in sports: Play it safe.<p>Manikanta strode into the lead from the start on lane three and never looked back. </p>.<p>Manikanta finished ahead of Railways' Elakkiyadasan K (10.49sec) and Tamil Nadu's Sai Siddharth (10.55sec). </p>.<p>"I spent my childhood in Udupi. I was introduced to running in the sports hostel. I came to Bengaluru and spent a year, before I joined the army. I believe I can do better in the finals tomorrow," Manikanta told DH.</p>.<p>"I ate Anna Saaru (rasam rice) for lunch, guess that's the power of Karnataka's Anna Saaru!" Manikanta added on a jovial note.</p>.<p>Manikanta's coach Aboobacker T was in awe of his ward, "He has been working hard in Hyderabad's Army node. "He ran (100m in) 10.31sec in the Services meet last month, and I hope he can cross 10.1sec soon." </p>.<p>Maharashtra's Dinesh came up with a terrific finish after phasing his race perfectly in the men's 10000m final, beating Services duo Mohan Saini and Sandeep Singh.</p>.<p>In the women's 10,000m final, Himachal Pradesh's Seema and Railways' Kavita Yadav were neck and neck until the final lap. Seema, who had kept just enough pace in reserve, surged ahead to finish 9sec in front. UP's Phoolan Pal rounded off the podium. </p>.<p>Dev Meena massive effort of 5.05m won him gold in the men's pole vault final.</p>.<p>Police Sports Control's Anmol Kaur finished on top in the women's hammer throw final, finishing ahead of Tanya Chaudhary and Sarita R Singh.</p>.<p class="ListBody"><span class="bold"><strong>Results (finals only): Men: 10,000m</strong></span>: Dinesh (Maharashtra, 29:10.11) 1; Mohan Saini (SSCB, 29:10.82) 2; Sandeep Singh (SSCB, 29:11.21) 3.</p>.<p class="ListBody"><span class="bold"><strong>Pole vault</strong></span>: Dev Meena (Madhya Pradesh, 5.05m) 1; Shekhar Pandey (Uttar Pradesh, 4.95m) 2; Tanuj Kumar (Services, 4.85m) 3. </p>.<p class="ListBody"><span class="bold"><strong>Women: 10,000m</strong></span>: Seema (Himachal Pradesh, 33:26.90) 1; Kavita Yadav (Railways, 33:35.57) 2; Phoolan Pal (Uttar Pradesh, 34:55.13) 3.</p>.<p class="ListBody"><span class="bold"><strong>Hammer throw</strong></span>: Anmol Kaur (Police Sports Control, 60.19m) 1; Tanya Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh, 59.04 m) 2; Sarita R Singh (Railways, 58.42m) 3. </p>