Andhra Pradesh's G. Satyanarayana Rao won the men's 85 plus 5km walk event even as Manipur dominated proceedings on the opening day of the 33rd National Masters athletics championships at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here.
Satyanarayana won in 45:25.7s, a minute ahead of Kerala's V.R. Krishnan Nair. “I expect three golds every year,” the 88-year-old, whose events include the 800 and 1500m, said afterwards.
Manipur's athletes won as many as eight events on Thursday, while those from Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and Karnataka also had good outings. The home team's Reeth Abraham convincingly took the women's 45 plus javelin gold, achieving a distance of 31.43m to second-placed Kamala Brahma's 23.25. Reeth narrowly missed out on a second victory, having to settle for silver in the triple jump by two-hundredths of a metre.
The results (winners only):
Men: 5km walk: 85 plus: G. Satyanarayana Rao (AP) 45:25.7s; 80 plus: N.R. Shankar Rao (Kar) 38:29.7; 75 plus: Hori Lal (Har) 32:54.7; 70 plus: R.K. Sanwan (Har) 32:54.1; 65 plus: Y. Tikem Meetei (Man) 32:53.0; 60 plus: K. Manjunath (Kar) 31:05.6; 55 plus: Shamsher Singh (Har) 27:50.0; 50 plus: Duleswar Gogoi (Asm) 29:29.4.
Hammer: 85 plus: V.G. Sevariar (TN) 17.39m; 80 plus: Apurba Ranjan Biswas (WB) 25.75; 75 plus: Mohan Singh Bhullar (Pun) 29.37; 70 plus: K.A. Varghese (Ker) 32.2; 65 plus: Nahar Singh (Har) 36.68.
Women: 5km walk: 80 plus: Kumudini Biswas (WB) 48:38.5s; 75 plus: Manileima Devi (Man) 53:51.1; 70 plus: Ibemnungshi Devi (Man) 39:13.9; 55 plus: Rajam Gopi (Ker) 34:24.6; 50 plus: Ila Dutta Singh (WB) 36:45.7.
Javelin: 85 plus: J.M. Sibilla (Ker) 10.37m; 75 plus: Mangol Devi (Man) 11.54; 70 plus: M. Pushpakumari (AP) 11.5; 65 plus: Sivagami Balasundaram (TN) 16.94; 60 plus: Subadani Devi (Man) 19.73; 55 plus: Ani P. Rai (Kar) 21.28; 50 plus: Amrita Bhandary (Kar) 24.57; 45 plus: Reeth Abraham (Kar) 31.43.
Triple jump: 80 plus: Daisy Victor (TN) 4.44m; 75 plus: Vijayalakshmi Nair (Ker) 5.85; 70 plus: Sanahanbi Devi (Man) 5.83; 65 plus: Suneeta Devi (Man) 5.60; 60 plus: Aheibam Memcha Devi (Man) 7.32; 55 plus: Saraswati Rajput (Guj) 7.68; 50 plus: K. Bharathi (AP) 7.01; 45 plus: Swapna Mondal (WB) 9.16. — Sports Reporter
