Jyothi Yarraji overcame blistering heat to surprise favourite Srabani Nanda to emerge the fastest woman of the meet as she won the 100m sprint at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships at Kalinga Stadium here
In the men’s 100m race, Siva Kumar emerged winner with a time of 10.37s, just 0.05 seconds ahead of second-placed Harjit Singh. Elakkiyadassan K came third in 10.47s. AFI’s Asian Games qualification mark is set at 10.19s.
Amiya Kumar Mallick, who holds the national record of 10.26s, finished last in the eight-man final with a timing of 10.58s.
The 23-year-old Jyothi Yarraji, who is also National record holder in 100m Hurdles, was trailing Asian championships bronze medalist Srabani Nanda till the 50m mark but switched gears to finish the race in 11.46s. However, Jyothi fell short of the Asian Games qualifying mark by a mere 0.04s.Srabani ettled for the silver medal with a timing of 11.59s followed by Himashree Roy, who came third in 11.71s.
Earlier, Jyothi Yarraji topped the heats in 11.65s. Her performance dipped to 11.72s in the semi-finals but she remained the fastest woman. Jyothi personal best in 100m is 11.45s while the national record of 11.17s belongs to Dutee Chand.
The women’s 400m was won by Anjali Devi in 51.48 and in the process made the cut for the Asian Games, set at 52.96s. Even in the heats she had clocked 52.89s. She also topped the semi-final in 52.03s. Himanshi Malik and R Vithya Ramraj came second and third with timings of 51.76s and 52.49, respectively. Aishwarya Kailash Mishra was fourth in 52.79s. All three made the cut for the continental meet.
The 16-year-old Rezoana Mallick Heena, the U20 Asian champion, could not qualify for the final after timing 54.80s in the semi-finals .
In the men’s 400m three athletes’ clock under the Asian Games entry standard of 46.17. Asian Games silver medallist Muhammed Anas Yahiya timed 45.76s and finished just behind Sri Lanka’s Kalinga Kumarage, who won gold in 45.64s. Muhammed Ajmal came third in 45.90. Amoj Jacob was fourth with 45.91s.
The men’s 800m saw all three medallists – Krishan Kumar (1:46.17), Muhammed Afsal (1:47.47) and Pradeep Senthilkumar (1:48.10) – beat the Asian Games entry standard of 1:49.05.
The women’s 1500m was won by KM Deeksha with a new meet record of 4:06.07 and make the cut for the Asian Games. Harmilan Bains, who holds the national record of 4:05.39, came second with the timing of 4:08.50.
A total of four athletes clocked under the Asian Games qualifying mark of 4:15.49 in the women’s 1500m. Chanda clinched the last place on the podium in 4:09.39 while Pooja came fourth, 0.13s adrift.
Parul Chaudhary convincingly beat the Asian Games entry standard of 9:47.00 in the women’s 3000m steeplechase by winning the race in 9:34.23.
Later in the day, 2014 Asian Games champion Seema Punia logged the best attempt of 56.50m to win gold in the women’s discus throw. Seema, however, was unable to breach the Asian Games entry standard of 57.00m.
Women’s triple jumper Sheena NV, meanwhile, pipped Asian bronze medallist Nayana James with a leap of 13.60m to breach 13.58m distance required for Asian Games. Nayana James settled for silver with the best attempt of 13.33m.
The National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships is the final selection trial for the Asian Games 2023, scheduled in Hangzhou, China later this year.
