Patiala, (Samajweekly) Assam’s ace sprinter Hima Das won the women’s 200m race while Odisha’s Dutee Chand dominated 100m in the second leg of the Indian Grand Prix meet here on Thursday, even as Delhi’s Amoj Jacob recorded personal best time to win the men’s 400m.
Hima’s winning time of 23.31 seconds in her first race after a long layoff due to back injury could be seen as good performance, but it fell short of Tokyo Olympic qualification time of 22.80 seconds at Patiala’s National Institute of Sports here.
Hima, the 21-year-old 2018 world junior 400m champion and national record holder of 50.79 seconds, hasn’t done well over the one-lap race since April 2019 due to lower back pain. She has now switched to shorter sprints — 100m and 200m. She is also one of the key runners in the national women’s 4x100m relay team.
Despite being an Olympic qualifier competition, there were only two runners in the 200m competition here on Thursday, with Delhi’s Simrandeep Kaur taking second spot at 24.91 seconds in the one-day competition.
The women’s 100m race went on expected lines with Odisha’s international sprinter Dutee winning comfortably. She clocked 11.44 seconds. She had clocked 11.51 seconds in the first leg on February 18. Karnataka’s Daneshwari A was second at 11.89 seconds, while Maharashtra’s Diandra Dudley Valladares clocked 11.92 seconds for third place.
Amoj Jacob came up with a personal best time of 46.00 seconds to win the men’s 400m. In improving on the 46.26 sec he clocked in June 2017, he showed a smart recovery from the injury that forced him to hobble out of the race in Grand Prix I last week.
Two of his relay squad teammates — Arokia Rajiv (Tamil Nadu) and Muhammed Anas Yahiya (Kerala) — were locked in a fascinating contest over the 200m sprint — part of their overall preparations. Arokia Rajiv defeated Anas, who holds the national record, by 0.20 seconds, with a time of 21.24 seconds.
Jakarta Asian Games champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor of Punjab won the men’s shot put event with a throw of 19.49m. Sahib Singh of Delhi was second at 17.69m and Amandeep Singh of Punjab was third with a throw of 16.96m.
In the men’s long jump main focus was on national record holder Murali Sreeshankar of Kerala, but his best was 8.05m. His personal best is 8.20m while Olympic qualification is 8.22m.
Uttar Pradesh’s Shekhar Singh was at 7.85m while Muhammed Anees of Kerala was third with a distance of 7.76m.
Uttar Pradesh’s Annu Rani’s gold winning performance of 61.22m too fell short of Tokyo Olympic qualification mark of 64m. Of the six throws, her first three were above 60m while the last three below 60m.
Sanjana Choudhary of Rajasthan was second at 53.27m and Sharmila Kumari of Haryana was third with a throw of 50.93m.
Seasoned Karnataka’s runner MR Poovamma dominated the 400m race. Her winning time was 53. 60 seconds.
Kiran Pahal of Haryana was seconds in 54.88 secs and Subha Venkatesan of Tamil Nadu third at 55.29 seconds.
Results (all):
Men:
100m: 1. Krishnakumar Satish Rane (Maharashtra) 10.71 seconds; 2. Amiya Kumar Mallick (Odisha) 10,74; 3. Amit Tiwari (Delhi) 10.81.
200m: 1. S Arokia Rajiv (Tamil Nadu) 21.24 seconds; 2. Muhammed Anas Yahiya (Kerala) 21.44; 3. Ashok Kumar (Punjab) 21.80.
400m: 1. Amoj Jacob (Delhi) 46.00 seconds; 2. Sarthak Bhambri (Delhi) 47.12; 3. Angrej Singh (Haryana) 47.32.
1500m: 1. Ajay Kumar Saroj (Uttar Pradesh) 3 minutes 44.31 seconds; 2. Rahul (Delhi) 3:45.98; 3. Ajeet Kumar (Gujarat) 3:51.30.
Long Jump: 1. M Sreeshankar (Kerala) 8.05m; 2. Yugan Shekhar Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 7.85; 3. Muhammed Anees Yahiya (Kerala) 7.76.
Shot Put: 1. Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Punjab) 19.49m; 2. Sahib Singh (Delhi) 17.69; 3. Amandeep Singh Dhaliwal (Punjab) 16.96.
Javelin Throw: 1. Sahil Silwal (Haryana) 77.40m; 2. Rohit Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) 77.33; 3. Manu DP (Karnataka) 75.28.
Women:
100m: 1. Dutee Chand (Odisha) 11.44 seconds; 2. AT Daneshwari (Karnataka) 11.89; 3. Diandra Dudley Valladares (Maharashtra) 11.92.
200m: 1, Hima Das (Assam) 23.31 seconds; 2. Simrandeep Kaur (Delhi) 24.91.
400m: 1. MR Poovamma (Karnataka) 53.60 seconds; 2. Kiran Pahal (Haryana) 54.88; 3. Subha Venkatesan (Tamil Nadu) 55.29.
1500m: 1. Chanda (Delhi) 4 minutes 15.54 seconds; 2, PU Chitra (Kerala) 4:20.98; 3. Lili Das (West Bengal) 4:21.32.
400m Hurdles: 1. R Vithya Ramraj (Tamil Nadu) 59.49 seconds; 2. Nanhi (Haryana) 1:00.13; 2. Salini V Krishna (Kerala) 1:00.44.
Shot Put: 1. Srishthi Vig (Delhi) 15.46m; 2. Kachnar Chaudhary (Rajasthan) 14.15; 3. Tulnai Narzary (Assam) 13.95.
Javelin Throw: 1. Annu Rani (Uttar Pradesh) 61.22m; 2. Sanjana Choudhary (Rajasthan) 53.27; 3. Sharmila Kumari (Haryana) 50.93
