Ayush Dabas, Rupal Chaudhary emerge fastest sprinters in 400m Championships

AFI Media

New Delhi, October 12: Ayush Dabas (Haryana) and 16-year-old Rupal Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh) claimed bragging rights by emerging the fastest male and female quarter-milers on view in the third National Open 400m Championships in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (warm-up track) here on Tuesday.

Ayush Dabas ran his second sub 47-second one-lapper in a fortnight, backing up his 46.58 effort in the National U23 Championships here on September 28 with a victory in 46.86 seconds in the men’s final on Tuesday. He was pushed by Tamil Nadu’s Surendar S Selvamani who was the only other sprinter to stop the clock below 48 seconds.

Yet, it was 16-year-old Rupal Chaudhary who was the cynosure of the evening, her Girls U18 triumph coming in a personal best time of 53.73 seconds. She was primarily racing the clock and she beat her previous best of 55.37 seconds, clocked in the National Junior Athletics Championships in Guntur in 2019.

There was also an emotional win for Jammu and Kashmir’s Abrar Choudhary in the Boys U20 final. With a determined effort, he turned the tables on Pankaj (Rajasthan), who was the fastest in the heats. There was some consolation for Rajasthan as Rahul Kumar Githala claimed the Boys U18 crown in 48.33 seconds.

The results (finals):

Men: 1. Ayush Dabas (Haryana) 46.86 seconds; 2. Surendar S Selvamani (Tamil Nadu) 47.76; 3. Harpreet Singh Gill (Punjab) 48.13.

Women: 1. Vandana Sharma (Uttar Pradesh) 55.01 seconds; 2. Smruthimol Rajendran (Kerala) 55.75; 3. Khamosh Bai Gurjar (Rajasthan) 1:04.57.

Boys U20: 1. Abrar Choudhary (Jammu and Kashmir) 48.56 seconds; 2. Pankaj (Rajasthan) 48.99; 3. Akshay Govardhan (Maharashtra) 49.17.

Girls U20: 1. Kunja Rajitha (Andhra Pradesh) 56.19 seconds; 2. Kiranjot Kaur (Punjab) 57.02; 3. Priscilla Daniel (Kerala) 57.54.

Boys U18: 1. Rahul Kumar Githala (Rajasthan) 48.33 seconds; 2. A Suraj (Tamil Nadu) 48.59; 3. Arman Ahmed (Delhi) 48.60.

Girls U18: 1. Rupal Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh) 53.73 seconds; 2. PR Neeharika (Tamil Nadu) 58.07; 3. Nayana Kokara (Karnataka) 58.31.

Boys U16: 1. Rihan Chauhdary (Karnataka) 49.02 seconds; 2. Sonu Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh) 50.09; 2. Shivam (Uttar Pradesh) 50.26.

Girls U16: 1. M Kanista Teena (Tamil Nadu) 57.41 seconds; 2. Priyanka Olekar (Karnataka) 58.77; 3. Tanvi Malik (Uttar Pradesh) 59.13.