Three athletes earn Asian Games tickets on Day 1 of National Inter State Senior Athletics C'ship
T
hree athletes achieved the Hangzhou Asian Games qualification time in their respective events on the opening day of the 62nd National Inter State Senior Athletics Championship in Bhubaneswar on Thursday.
Haryana's international sprinter Anjali Devi dipped below the Asian Games qualification time of 52.89 seconds. During the women's 400m heats on Thursday, she clocked 52.96 seconds.
While it was a big payday for Uttar Pradesh distance runners----Kartik Kumar and Gulveer Singh. On their way to the podium in the men's 10,000m, both Kartik Kumar and Gulveer Singh bettered the Hangzhou Asian Games qualification time of 2930.00. Kartik's gold medal-winning time was 2901.84 seconds, while Gulveer Singh finished a close second at 2903.78 seconds. "My next goal is to win a medal at the Asian Games," Kartik Kumar said in a post-race interaction.
Both Kartik Kumar and Gulveer Singh also improved the previous meet record of 2906.17 clocked way back in 2007 by Olympian Surendra Singh, who is overseeing the national camp in Bengaluru.
In a fast-paced race third and fourth runners---Pritam Kumar of Delhi and Harman Jot Singh of Madhya Pradesh also dipped below the Asian Games qualification time of 2930.00.
Abhishek Pal of Uttar Pradesh, pre-race favourite, quit the race with nine laps to go due to stomach cramps. "I missed the chance to qualify for the Asian Games," he said.
In the women's 25-lap event, Seema of Himachal Pradesh upset her more experienced rival Sanjivani Jadhav of Maharashtra. In a tactical race, Seema pushed for a home in the last two rounds to cross the finish line in 3420.01 seconds. Seema's performance at Bhubaneswar's eight-lane Kalinga Stadium was nearly two minutes slower than the Asian Games qualification time of 3230.24 seconds. "I could have done better had someone pushed me in the last 2km of the 25-lap event," Seema said in a post-race interaction.
While Sanjivani considered favourite to win gold, said it wasn't her day. Maharashtra's international runner conserved her energy to push hard in the second half of the race, but she wasn't able to execute her pre-race plans and eventually finished second. "My goal today was to qualify for the Asian Games, but I fell short of my target," She added. Sanjivani recently clocked a personal best of 3246 seconds in the women's 10,000m event during Portland Track Festival and was hopeful to improve her performance in the next race.
The men 20km race walk saw Haryana seasoned athlete Sandeep Kumar take home the gold medal, while Bhawna Jat of Rajasthan added women's 20km race walk title to her profile. Bhawna's gold medal winning time of 13703.00 was better than the previous meet record of 13900 clocked by Deepmala Devi in 2006.
Results (all finals)
Men 10,000m Kartik Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 2901.84 secs, Gulveer Singh (UP) 2903.78 secs, Pritam Kumar (Delhi) 2922.36 secs.
20km race walk Sandeep Kumar (Haryana) 12712, Servin S (Tamil Nadu) 12821, Hardeep (Haryana) 12857
Women 10,000m Seema (Himachal Pradesh) 3420.01 secs, Sanjivani Jadhav (Maharashtra) 3434.10 secs, Poonam Dinkar (Maharashtra) 3445.42 secs.
20km race walk Bhavna Jat (Rajasthan) 13703.00, Priyanka Goswani (UP) 14033.00, Vandana (Karnataka) 14154.00.
✔️ Three athletes earn Asian Games tickets on Day 1 of National Inter State Senior Athletics C'ship
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