Renjith Maheswary surely knows the way to a crowd's heart. The big-built Indian triple jumper exhorted the audience to cheer him at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Saturday. Eventually his supporters had much to savour as Renjith clinched gold in the Asian Grand Prix's men's triple jump event while clearing 17.00m.
Renjith staved off competition from silver-medallist Roman Valiyev (Kazakhstan), whose best jump remained at 16.93.
National record
A new National record was scripted too as Rahmatulla, Abdul Najeeb, Sameer Mon and Ritesh Anand came second spot and clocked 39.23 in the open men's 4x100m relay. The quartet went past the earlier mark of 39.36 set at the Asian Games in Busan during 2002.
Meanwhile, Asian champion Zhang Peimeng of China, who surprisingly mustered a bronze in the men's 100m at Pune, slipped in the fifth gear here and won the gold clocking 10.31s.
In the women's section, Uzbekistan's Guzel Khubbieva maintained her supremacy and won the 100m sprint in 11.55s.
Prajusha sparkles
Earlier, in the Indian Grand Prix, the women's long jump witnessed a close tussle for supremacy as M.A. Prajusha, Mayookha Johny and Reshmi Bose stretched past the 6.40m mark. Eventually, Prajusha's second jump of 6.55m proved to be decisive and helped the Railways athlete win the gold, while Mayookha of ONGC, registered 6.49m to claim the silver.
The results: Asian Grand Prix: Men: 100m: 1. Zhang Peimeng (Chn), 10.31s; 2. Lai Chun Ho (HK), 10.32; 3. Babakat Al Harti (Oman), 10.36. 110m hurdles: 1. Fawaz Al Shammari (Kuw), 13.62; 2. Ji Wei (Chn), 13.73; 3. Jamras Rittidet (Thai), 13.98. 400m: 1. S.K. Mortaza (Ind), 47.38; 2. Nelson Stone (PNG), 47.54; 3. Kunhumohammed (Ind), 47.61. 800m: 1. Sajad Moradi (Ira), 1:49.24; 2. Pankaj Dimri (Ind), 1:49.47; 3. Amir Moradi (Iran), 1:49.64. High jump: 1. Lee Hup Wei (Mal), 2.24m; 2. Wang Chen (Chn), 2.20; 3. Tsykunov Vitaliy (Kzk), 2.15. Long jump: 1. Yu Zhengwei (Chn), 8.12 NMR, Old: 7.99, Maha Singh (Ind), 2005 ; 2. Konstantin Safronov (Kzk), 8.06; 3. Supanara Sukhasvasti (Thai), 8.04. Triple jump: 1. Renjith Maheswari (Ind), 17.00; 2. Roman Valiyev (Kzk), 16.93; 3. Wu Bo (Chn), 16.92. Shot put: 1. Om Prakash (Ind), 19.80; 2. Zhang Jun (Chn), 19.53; 3. Saurav Vij (Ind), 19.15.
Women: 100m: 1. Guzel Khubbieva (Uzb), 11.55s; 2. Toea Wisil (PNG), 11.61; 3. H.M. Jyothi (Ind), 11.67. 100m hurdles: 1. Anasstasiya Suprunova (Kzk), 13.31; 2. Dedeh Erawati (Ina), 13.38; 3. Sheena Atilano (Php), 13.98. 400m: 1. Chandrika Rasnayaka (Sri), 54.04; 2. Treewadee Yongphan (Tha), 54.92; 3. Salome Dell (PNG), 55.54. 800m: 1. Margarita Matsko (Kzk), 2:04.97; 2. Sushma Devi (Ind), 2:05.15; 3. Viktoria Yalovtseva (Kzk), 2:05.91. Discus throw: 1. Krishna Poonia (Ind), 61.64m; 2. Harwant Kaur (Ind), 59.67; 3. Seema Antil (Ind), 58.81. Shot put: 1. Lu Xiangrong (Chn), 18.03; 2. Chia Ying Lin (Ch. Taipei), 15.88; 3. Zhang Guirong (Sing), 14.60. High jump: 1. Svetlana Radzivil (Uzb), 1.93; 2. Anna Ustinova (Kzk), 1.93; 3. Wanida Boonwan (Tha), 1.80. Triple jump: 1. Aleksandra Kotlyarova (Uzb), 14.08; 2. Liu Yanan (Chn), 13.91; 3. Valeriya Kanatova (Uzb), 13.89.
Indian Grand Prix: Men: 200m: 1. Manikanda Raj (Jha), 21.38s; 2. Jai Prakash Shetty (Kar), 21.84; 3. Ajay Kumar (BSF), 21.87. 400m hurdles: 1. Joseph Abraham (Rly), 50.57; 2. Satender Singh (Rly), 51.25; 3. Avin Thomas (Rly), 51.50. Javelin throw: 1. Samarjeet Singh (ONGC), 73.35m; 2. Kashinath (Services), 71.40; 3. Vipin Panwar (U.P.), 69.10. Pole vault: 1. Gajanan Upadhaya (Rly), 5 .00m; 2. Vadivel (Rly), 4.85; 3. Bineesh Jacob (Rly), 4.70.
Women: 200m: 1. Shanti (AP), 24.61s; 2. Nirupama Sunderrajan (Kar), 24.66; 3. C. Shilpa (Ker), 25.11. Long jump: 1. M.A. Prajusha (Rly), 6.55m; 2. Mayoookha Johny (ONGC), 6.49; 3. Reshmi Bose (Rly), 6.46.
