Manisha nixes Geeta’s ‘sprint double’ quest
Kerala’s M.A. Prajusha underlined her prowess as a jumper when she picked up her second gold by winning the women's triple jump with an effort which was just two centimetres less than the meet record on the concluding day of the Greenko 52nd National inter-State senior athletic championships at the GMC Balayogi stadium here on Tuesday. Prajusha had earlier won the long jump gold.
Athletes from Kerala dominated the proceedings and the State won the overall title with a tally of 192 points. Uttar Pradesh was a distant second with 82 points.
On Tuesday, Prajusha with her fourth jump chalked up a distance of 13.66 metres to take the gold.
The meet record stands in the name of Mayookha Johny at 13.68m created in 2010. Shraddha Ghule of Maharashtra, who won silver in the long jump, got the same medal in the triple jump with a leap of 13.18m in her penultimate attempt.
Good effort, but…
Satti Geeta's bid for a sprint double did not materialise as her valiant attempt to overtake Manisha of Haryana failed by a narrow margin.
The Haryana runner, who had established a slender lead as the runners entered the home stretch, held off a strong challenge to breast the tape half a stride ahead of Geeta.
Geeta still ended up with gold medals in the 100m and 4 x 100m relay.
Manisha's time of 24.26s was nowhere near the meet record (23.10 set by Rachita Mistry in 2000) and the National record (22.82s set by Saraswati Saha in 2002).
“I am happy that I was able to get medals in the events that I competed in.
“I wanted to prove that I still have something to give when it comes to National level meets,” said Geeta. Manisha, who had been disqualified in the shorter sprint due to a false start, was thrilled with her victory.
“I knew that I could win the gold and I put in my best effort. I am happy that all my hard work finally paid off and I won’t have to go back from here empty-handed," she said.
The results:
Men: 110m hurdles: 1. A. Suresh (Jha) 13.96s, 2. Balamurugan (TN) 14.18s, 3. Prem Kumar (TN) 14.62s. 200m: 1. Nitin (Del) 21.44s, 2. Arumugham Manikanda (TN) 21.60s, 3. Ritesh Anand (Jha) 21.68s.
1500m: 1. Sandeep (Har) 3: 42.76s, 2. Hamza C. (Ker) 3: 45.67s, 3. Pranjal Gogoi (Asm) 3: 49.88s. 10,000m: 1. Kheta Ram (Raj) 29:49.71s, 2. Suresh Kumar Patel (UP) 29:57.11s, 3. V.L. Dangi (Raj) 30:13.55s. 4 x 400m relay: Kerala 3:14.84s, 2. Madhya Pradesh 3:19.78s, 3. Andhra Pradesh 3:24.71s.
Shot put: 1. Shakti Singh (Raj) 18.25m, 2. Satyendra (UP) 17.83m, 3. Jagroop Singh (Pun) 17.66m.
Team championship: 1. Kerala (70 pts), 2. Tamil Nadu (57.5 pts).
Women: 100m hurdles: 1. Anchu M.M. (Ker) 14.00s, 2. Purnima Hembram (Odi) 14.35s, 3. Meghana Shetty (Kar) 14.51s.
200m: 1. Manisha (Har) 24.26s, 2. Satti Geeta (AP) 24.33s, 3. Merlin K. Joseph (Ker) 24.88s.
1500m: 1. Jhuma Khatoon (Jha) 4:28.31s, 2. Bindu S.R (Ker) 4:28.53s, 3. Fulan Khatun (WB) 4:40.23s. 10,000m: 1. Monika Motiram (Mah) 37:03.97s, 2. Manisha Salunke (Mah) 37:54.95s, 3. Archana Pal (UP) 38:57.09s. 4 x 400m relay: 1. Kerala 3:45.06s, 2. West Bengal 3:50.87s, 3. Andhra Pradesh 3:51.03s. Triple jump: 1. Prajusha M.A (Ker) 13.66m, 2. Shraddha Ghule (Mah) 13.18m, 3. Amitha Baby (Ker) 12.72m.
Discus throw: 1. Harwant Kaur (Pun) 55.92m, 2. Parveen Kumari (Raj) 46.11m, 3. Santosh (Har) 40.39m.
Javelin throw: 1. Anu Rani (UP) 53.95m, 2. Suman Devi (UP) 53.61m, 3. Rupinder Kaur (Pun) 47.01m. Heptathlon: 1. Sushmita Singha Roy (WB) 5651 pts. 2. Lisky Joseph (Ker) 4941 pts, 3. Nisky Joseh (Ker) 4706 pts.
Team championship: 1. Kerala (122 pts), 2. West Bengal (61 pts).
Overall champion: 1. Kerala (192 pts). 2. U.P. (82 pts).
Best athletes: Men: Satinder Singh (Pun). Women: Tintu Luka (Ker).