New Delhi: On the first day of the inaugural National U-23 Athletics Championships, Gujarat’s Ajeet Kumar and Madhya Pradesh’s KM Deeksha won the men’s and women’s 1500m events, on Monday, respectively at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.
In the 1500m, Ajeet ran a personal best time of 3:47.31, sprinting away in the final lap after being within a whisker of Haryana’s Ishu Solanki, who led at the bell.
While Deeksha (4:14.02) improved her personal best by seven seconds in the women’s 1500m, outrunning Delhi’s KM Chanda (4:15.08) on the final lap. Prince Kumar, who had won silver in the men’s 5000m earlier in the day, finished third behind Harendra Kumar (Delhi).
Adesh Yadav and Komal Chandrakant Jagdale, both from Maharashtra, won the men’s and women’s 5000m titles with relative ease but in opposing styles in the morning. Parshant Singh Kanhaiya (Haryana) won the men’s Pole Vault gold after matching his personal best of 5.10m.
Ayush Dabas (47.31 seconds) and Vikrant Panchal (47.42 seconds) of Haryana won their respective men’s 400m semifinals, but Tamil Nadu’s Surendar Selvamani (47.38 seconds) set a personal best in his first national event in more than 20 months, ensuring a close final amongst the three.
Mohammed Hossain of West Bengal was another to break the 48-second barrier in the semifinals, while Karnataka’s Nihal Joel William (48.00) and Punjab’s Karanpreet Singh (48.01) came near.
Taranjeet Kaur of Delhi (11.72 seconds) and AT Daneshwari of Karnataka (11.73) qualified fastest for the women’s 100m final.
Others who stood out in the heats were Telangana’s Nithya Gandhe (11.91) and Maharashtra’s Avantika Narale (11.97).
Shashikanth Angadi of Karnataka was the quickest in the men’s 100m semifinals, clocking 10.53 seconds.
Sherin Abdul Gaffoor (Tamil Nadu) qualified for the long jump with a leap of 6.31m. Pooja Saini (Rajasthan), R Punitha (Tamil Nadu), and Sandra Babu (Kerala) all broke the 6-meter barrier.
Three more went over 5.90m, which was enough to propel them into the final comfortably.
The results (finals):
Men 1500m: 1. Ajeet Kumar (Gujarat) 3:47.31; 2. Harendra Kumar (Delhi) 3:49.30; 3. Prince Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 3:51.88.
5000m: 1. Adesh Yadav (Maharashtra) 14:12.36; 2. Prince Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 14:17.37; 3. Ajay (Haryana) 14:21.44.
Pole Vault: 1. Prashant Kanhaiya (Haryana) 5.10m; 2. AK Siddharth (Kerala) 4.85; 3. Amit (Rajasthan) 4.85, Women 1500m: 1. KM Deeksha (Madhya Pradesh) 4:14.02; 2. K M Chanda (Delhi) 4:15.08; 3. Radha (Uttarakhand) 4:31.98.
5000m: 1. Komal Chandrakant Jagdale (Maharashtra) 16:03.53; 2. Sonika (Haryana) 17:00.46; 3. Badho (Haryana) 17:40.41.
Shot put: 1. Kiran Baliyan (Uttar Pradesh) 16.11m; 2. Kachnar Chaudhary (Rajasthan) 14.71; 3. Ambika (Karnataka) 14.21.
