A.C. Ashwini made a winning return to the National athletics scene with a relatively easy race in the women's 400m in the 51st senior inter-State athletics championship at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Sunday. The 23-year-old Udupi girl clocked 52.82 seconds, finishing a good 10-12 metres ahead of the second-placed Mandeep Kaur of Punjab.
Out of action for over three months with a fractured left wrist, Ashwini was happy with her performance. “I am happy with the timing as it has come after a long gap. The wrist injury was very painful and that put me off serious training for almost three months.
“Now my concentration is only on the 400m flat and not on the relay which won me all my accolades. The confidence level is low to do a technical event like the 400m hurdles.
“I am even skipping the Asian championships for now and this will be decided after talking to the Federation. My focus is on the World championship late in August and I will perform to my potential then,” she added.
Later, Bharatinder Singh (7658 points) eclipsed the men's decathlon National record of Jora Singh. While Jora had tallied 7502 points last year at New Delhi, the meet record stood in the name of the late Suresh Babu at 7380 set at Pala (Kerala) in 1976.
“I did miserably in pole vault and 1,500m,” admitted the 24-year-old employee of Western Railway, Mumbai. “I will correct my weaknesses and do well at the Asian championship,” said Bharatinder, who hails from Haryana.
His event-wise break-up was: 100m — 10.83s (899 pts), long jump — 7.45m (922), shot put — 14.67m (769), high jump — 1.95m (758), 400m — 49.83s (822), 110m hurdles — 15.27s (817), discus — 48.71m (844), pole vault — 4.00m (617), javelin — 62.85 (781) and 1,500m — 5:24.18s (429).
Meanwhile, Kerala's P.K. Priya (11.97s) and Shameer Mon (10.58s) emerged the fastest woman and man of the meet.
The results: Men: 100m: 1. Shameer Mon (Ker) 10.58s, 2. Krishna Rane (Mah) 10.61, 3. Ritesh Anand (Jha) 10.71; 400m: 1. S.K. Mortaza (WB) 47.05, 2. Davinder Singh (Pun) 47.32, 3. J. Premanand (MP) 47.80; 1,500m: 1. Ghamanda Ram (Raj) 3:48.12, 2. Pranjal Gogoi (Mah) 3:48.43, 3. Sandeep (Har) 3:48.52; 3,000m steeplechase: 1. Rama Chandran (TN) 8:42.58s (NMR), 2. Th. Sanjit Luwang (Man) 8:44.26, 3. Jaiveer Malik (Har) 8:45.16s; 20km walk: 1. Maniram Patel (MP) 1:29:35.00, 2. Irfan (Ker) 1:30:34.00, 3. Manjit Singh (Pun) 1:31:34.00; Triple jump: 1. Arpinder Singh (Pun) 16.32m, 2. Renjith Maheswary (TN) 15.96, 3. Bipin Dev (Mah) 15.86m; Decathlon: 1. Bharatinder Singh (Har) (7658 pts - National record; old: Jora Singh, 7502), 2. Rahul Kumar (Raj) 7599, 3. Chandrahas Khushwaha (UP) 6537.
Women: 100m: 1. P.K. Priya (Ker) 11.97s, 2. Asha Roy (WB) 12.20, 3. N. Sudha (AP) 12.22; 400m: 1. A.C. Ashwini (Kar) 52.82, 2. Mandeep Kaur (Pun) 53.21, 3. Jauna Murmu (Ori) 53.81; 1,500m: 1. Jaisha (Pun) 4:21.32, 2. Jhuma Khatun (Jha) 4:23.89, 3. S.R. Bindu (Ker) 4:25.56.
20km walk: 1. Deepmala Devi (Jha) 1:47:19.29, 2. Gourav Kumari (MP) 1:52:26.09, 3. Ranjana Gupta (MP) 1:52:26.09.
High jump: 1. Sahana Kumari (Kar) 1.81m, 2. Mallika Mondal (WB) 1.76, 3. Siji (Ker) 1.73m.
