Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT), the official sport organ of the government, has won the championships in both boys’ and girls’ sections and overall championship in the 31st Tamil Nadu Junior Open Athletic Championship which drew to a close here on Sunday.
SDAT boys won the overall championship in all the four categories with 341 points, while SDAT girls won the overall championship in all the four categories with 385 points. SDAT won the overall championship with total points of 726 in the event held here from October 13.
St. Joseph’s Sports Academy won the runner-up in boys with 290 points and in girls with 233 points. The academy won the runner-up in the overall championship, scoring 523 points. ‘Arise steel’ won the third place in the overall championship (boys and girls) with 258 points.
In hammer throw for girls under 18, Metha from Perumal Ramasamy foundation, Chennai, threw 49.18 metres and set a new meet record. In discuss throw for girls under 18, Karunya from Arise athletic sports set a new meet record, throwing for a distance of 40.33 metres.
In the girls’ section, S Ronisha (under 14), J Coleshiya (under 16), M Santra Teresa Martin (under 18) all from SDAT and R Vithya (under 20) from Erode declared as best athletes of the meet.
In the boys’ section, Ebinezer (under 14) from St Joseph’s, K Mohamed Asiff (under 16), SDAT, C Praveen (under 18), SDAT and S Nithin (under 20) USF were declared as best athletes.
Addressing the valedictory function, Collector S. Natarajan congratulated the winners and exhorted them to work hard to win medals at the national and international levels. Pointing that the district administration accorded top priority for creating sports infrastructures, he said the district administration, with the help of donors has set up world class Astro-turf hockey stadium and would soon establish world class cricket stadium. The Collector also assured to lay synthetic tracks for athletes.
Superintendent of Police Ompraksh Meena, Ramanathapuram District Athletic Association President Velu Manoharan, Secretary A.N. Ragu, Tamil Nadu Athletic Association Treasurer C. Latha and District Sports and Youth Welfare Officer Frank Paul Jayaseelan were among others present. The district association has hosted the State-level event after a gap of 35 years.
