Young athletes of Tiruchi reaped a rich harvest of medals at the Neela Memorial 26th State junior inter-district athletics championship held at Sivakasi recently.
Tiruchi athletes bagged a total of 21 medals at the meet–four gold, 10 silver and seven bronze. The 17 medal winners under various age categories included 14 boys and three girls. The star performer was A. Dinakaran of Tiruchi Sports Hostel, who won two gold medals (110 meter hurdles and Octathlon). Tiruchi finished overall runner-up in the under-14 age category.
“It was a good effort by our athletes. The medals are a reward for their sustained hard work,” said N. Annavi, former international high jumper and secretary, Tiruchi District Athletics Association (TDAA).
He observed that the rise in the number of medal winners among non-sports hostel athletes was a good sign.
Medal winners
A. Dinakaran, T. Chinna Devan, T. Thesingh, A. Prabhakaran, R. Chandrakumar, M. Jayaraman and P. Anburaja (all from Tiruchi Sports Hostel); S. Purusothaman, N. Parthiban and M. Kannan (all from Rail Sports Club); M. Hari Prasad and M. Ranjith Kannan (St. John's Vestry Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School); A. Mothi Arun (Campion Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School); S. Krishna Prasad (St. Joseph's College); T. Mariya Philomin Rani (Holy Cross Girls Higher Secondary School, Ponmalai); M. Monisha Sivakami (St. Joseph's Anglo Indian Girls Higher Secondary School); B. Remya (UDV Higher Secondary School).
S. Ananthapadmanaban, vice-president, TDAA; D. Raju, treasurer; and T.R. Suresh Babu, senior joint-secretary; and O. Gnanasuganthi, athletics coach, Tiruchi Sports Hostel, felicitated the medal winners and the team managers S. Sathish Kumar and T. Umamaheshwaran.
