Dutee closes season with 200m win to completesprint double
AFI Media
Ranchi, October 13:Dutee Chand (Odisha) dug into the reserves of her strength to complete the sprint double in the season-ending 59th National Open Athletics Championships, clocking the fastest time by an Indian this season with a 23.17-second burst in the women’s 200m final at the Birsa Munda Athletics Stadium here on Sunday.
Having set a National mark in the 100m, Dutee Chand added the half-lapper gold to her collection, showing her challenger Archana Suseendran a clean pair of heels. She not only topped the Tamil Nadu sprinter’s time of 23.18 seconds clocked in the AFI Grand Prix in Patiala on August 16 but also logged in her own second fastest time behind the 23.00 timed in the Asian Games last year.
There was intense competition at the triple jump pit, even in Asian Games gold medallist Arprinder Singh’s absence. Abdulla Aboobacker challenged his Services team-mate Karthik Unnikrishnan till the very last jump in an event that saw the top six competitors cross the 16m mark. Karthik Unnikrishnan, who took the lead with a 16.61m in the third round, leapt 16.78m on his final try.
Chinta Yadav emerged a surprise winner of the women’s 3000m steeplechase, outsprinting her Railways team-mate Parul Chaudhary. The favourite did strive hard over the final 100m to bridge the gap and lunge ahead in a thrilling finish but Chinta Yadav had enough left in the tank to break the beam in 10 minutes 11.70 seconds.
Railways’ PU Chitra was another athlete who completed the double, adding the women’s 800m crown to the 1500m title she won earlier this week. With Lili Das, expected to offer her a stiff challenge, dropping out, Chitra did not have to worry overmuch in winning the two-lap race in 2 minutes 04.59 seconds.
Railways bagged the overall championship title leaving behind Services on second spot while Haryana finished third. Tajinderpal Singh Toor finished as best athlete in men’s category while Dutee Chand grabbed the best athlete title in the women’s category.
The results
Men:
200m: 1. Abhinav Panwar (Delhi) 21.37 seconds; 2. Karre Ashok (Services) 21.40; 3. M Manikanda Arumugam (Railways) 21.44.
800m: 1. Mohammed Afsal (Services) 1:50.88; 2. Ankesh Chaudhary (Services) 1:51.55; 3. Mujamil Ameer (Tamil Nadu) 1:52.18.
3000m Steeplechase: 1. Durga Bahadur Budha (Services) 8:44.96; 2. Shankar Lal Swami (Services) 8:54.03; 3. Balkishan (Haryana) 9:03.22.
Triple Jump: 1. Karthik Unnikrishnan (Services) 16.78m; 2. Abdulla Aboobacker (Services) 16.55; 3. T Vimal Mugesh 16.10.
Javelin Throw: 1. Arshdeep Singh (Punjab) 77.37m; 2. Rajender Singh (Haryana) 75.23; 3. Anil Kumar Rajbhar (Services) 74.45.
4x400m Relay: 1. Haryana (Yogesh Ahlawat, Parmvir Singh, Sunny and Angrej Singh) 3:08.51; 2. Services 3:10.11; 3. Malaysia 3:11.04.
Women:
200m: 1. Dutee Chand (Odisha) 23.17 seconds; 2. Archana Suseendran (Tamil Nadu) 23.41; 3. Chandra LekhaAnandhan (Railways) 23.74.
800m: 1. PU Chitra (Railways) 2:04.59; 2. Shipra Sarkar (Railways) 2:06.17; 3. Pramila Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) 2:06.34.
3000m Steeplechase: 1. Chinta Yadav (Railways) 10:11.70; 2. Parul Chaudhary (Railways) 10:11.77; 3. Komal Chandra Jagdale (Maharashtra) 10:17.36.
High Jump: Rubina Yadav (Railways) 1.76m; 2. LaimwnNarzary (Railways) 1.73; 3. LibiaShaji (Kerala) 1.70.
Hammer Throw: 1. Rekha Singh (Delhi) 56.38m; 2. Jyoti Jakhar (Railways) 56.13; 3. Kulvinder Kaur (Rajasthan) 55.13.
Heptathlon: 1. SowmiyaMurugan (Railways) 5450 points (100mH: 14.35; HJ: 1.68m; SP: 12.26m; 200m: 25.58; LJ: 5.79m; JT: 39.28m; 800m: 2:26.31); 2. MareenaGoerge (Kerala) 5227; 3. Lisky Joseph (Railways) 4809.
4x400m Relay: 1. Haryana (Kiran, Kavita, Shiksha Dagar and Anjali Devi Kundu) 3:41.47; 2. Punjab 3:43.62; 3. Railways 3:44.28.
