Dharun Ayyasamy prefers competition to training — he feels less pressure. It is no surprise that his timings in competitions tend to be better than what he sets during practice.
On Saturday, he broke a series of his own records en route to qualifying for the World Championships later this year.
Ayyasamy clocked 48.80seconds to win the 400m hurdles with a new National and meet record while also comfortably making the cut for the Worlds (qualifying mark of 49.30s).
It was almost a second faster than second-placed M.P. Jabir, who came in at 49.53s, also better than the Asian qualifying mark. But the 22-year-old had his own concerns before the race.
“Last year during Federation Cup here, I was recovering from illness. This time also, about 10 days before competition, I wasn’t feeling as good with my body as always. I told the coach also that there were no problems but it just didn’t feel right.
“She only said ‘run freely because you have already qualified, there is no timing worry’. I wasn’t expecting to clock this time here because both the coach and I want me to peak at the Asian Championships. This is not my 100 percent performance,” he said.
Ayyasamy, who broke the 50-second barrier here for the first time last year for a new meet record, bettered himself at the Asian Games before this.
Six more spots were booked for the Asian Championships as Vipin Kasana joined Shivpal Singh in javelin with an 81.23m throw.
In triple jump, Youth Olympics medallist Praveen Chitravel proved he had the credentials to succeed at the senior level with a 16.51m jump, outclassing fancied Arpinder Singh (16.34m).
However, it was a disappointing outing for Jinson Johnson in the 800m even as Asiad gold medallist Manjit Singh finished worse, coming in last.
The results: Men: 200m: 1. Akash Kumar (21.41s); 2. V.K. Elakkiyadasan (21.45); 3. Gajanand Mistry (21.53).
800m: 1. Jinson Johnson (1:49.68); 2. Mohd. Afsal (1:50.29); 3. Amoj Jacob (1:50.86).
400m hurdles: 1. Dharun Ayyasamy (48.80s); 2. M.P. Jabir (49.53); 3. M. Ramachandran (50.57).
Triple jump: 1. Praveen Chitravel (16.51m); 2. Mohd. Zuber (16.38m); 3. Md. Salahuddin (16.36m).
Javelin: 1. Shivpal Singh (82.56m); 2. Vipin Kasana (81.23m); 3. Rajender Singh (79.75m).
Shot put: 1. Jasdeep Singh (18.36m); 2. Karanveer Singh (18.22m); 3. Paramjeet Singh (18.16m).
Decathlon: 1. Boota Singh (7186 pts); 2. Ajith Kumar (6959); 3. Abhishek Shetty (6770).
Women: 200m: 1. Dutee Chand (23.35s); 2. V. Revathi (23.80); 3. S. Dhanalakshmi (24.05).
800m: 1. Gomathi Marimuthu (2:03.21); 2. Twinkle Chaudhary (2:03.67); 3. P.U. Chitra (2:05.78).
400m hurdles: 1. Saritaben Gayakwad (57.21s); 2. M. Arpitha (57.45); 3. Jauna Murmu (57.58).
Long jump: 1. Rintu Mathew (6.34m); 2. G. Karthika (6.24m); 3. Nayana James (6.23m).
