By IANS,
Chennai: Renjith Maheshwary of Kerala, Elam Singh of Uttarkhand and V.S. Surekha of Tamil Nadu rewrote the Meet records in the men’s triple jump and 3000 metres Steeplechase and women’s pole vault, respectively in the 49th Inter-State athletics championship here Friday. They also bettered the qualifying norms for the next month’s Asian championship in China.
Maheshwary reasserted his status as one of the top triple jumpers in Asia as he bettered his own Meet record with a winning leap of 16.73 metres that was an improvement over his own record of 16.67M.
Maheshwary, the 23-year old from Kerala who was the gold medallist at the 2007 Asian Meet in Amman, Jordan, with a wind-assisted and career-best 17.19, began with a foul, but then did 16.73 in his second attempt that assured him of the top spot.
The qualifying norm for the men’s triple jump is 16.64M that proved beyond the other contenders among whom Amarjeet Singh of Jharkhand finished second (15.99M) ahead of Malkit Singh of Punjab (15.59M).
Surekha, the 22-year old local challenger, gave the home supporters plenty to cheer about as she cleared 3.95 metres to rewrite her own Meet record of 3.90M, but way below her best of 4.08 that she had achieved in 2006. Her performance Friday also carried her past the qualifying standard of 3.50M.
Surekha skipped the initial heights and then started at 3.70 that she cleared in the very first attempt. She moved to 3.85M (third attempt) and then 3.95M (second attempt) before failing thrice at 4.05M.
In second spot was Surekha’s team-mate S Saranya who tied with Jisha R. of Kerala, both clearing 3.30M, but was placed ahead on the countback.
Sudha Singh of Uttar Pradesh set a scorching pace in winning the women’s 3000 metres Steeplechase that saw the top five finishers coming under the qualifying standard of 12 minutes, 12.40 seconds.
Sudha clocked 10:21.88 for the gold medal while Kiran Tiwari of Madhya Pradesh (10:40.40) came in second, followed by Rajashri Patil of Maharashtra (10:54.14), Rameswari M.V. of Kerala (10:56.25) and Shanti Burman of Bengal (11:52.45).
The day’s programme ended with Elam Singh winning the men’s 3,000 metres Steeplechase in a record time of eight minutes, 43.89 seconds as against the previous best of 8:46.92 and the qualifying norm of 8:47.99.
Finishing second was Jaibir Singh of Maharashtra, clocking 8:47.53 to also qualify for the 2009 Asian championship while Prtam Bind of Uttarkhand came in third (8:52.57).
The results:
Men:
200M: Arunjith S (Kerala) 1 (21.38s); M Manikandaraj (Tamil Nadu) 2 (21.76M); Anas CG (Kerala) 3 (21.92s).
Triple jump: Renjith Maheshwari (Kerala) 1 (16.73M; NMR, Old: 16.67M); Amarjeet Singh (Jharkhand) 2 (15.99M); Malkit Singh (Punjab) 3 (15.59M).
Discus throw: Prabhjot Singh (Punjab) 1 (52.17M); Amrit Pal Singh (Jharkhand) 2 (51.30M); Gurpreet Singh (Punjab) 3 (49.96M).
3000M Steeplechase: Elam Singh (Uttarkhand) 1 (8:43.89, NMR; Old: 8:46.92); Jaibir Singh (Maharashtra) 2 (8:47.53); Pritam Bind (Uttarkhand) 3 (8:52.57).
Women:
200M: K Soujanya (Andhra Pradesh) 1 (24.33s); HM Jyothi (Andhra Pradesh) 2 (24.48s); S Geetha (Andhra Pradesh) 3 (24.71s).
20Kms Walk: Deepmala Devi (Jharkhand) 1 (1:47:29.69); Supriya Adak (Maharashtra) 2 (1:52:59.61); Sandhya KJ (Kerala) 3 (1:54:38.83).
Hammer throw: Sukanya Mishra (Uttarkhand) 1 (56.96M); Seema Jakhar (Haryana) 2 (54.31M); Usma Darayan (Uttar Pradesh) 3 (53.57M).
Pole Vault: VS Surekha (Tamil Nadu) 1 (3.95M); S Saranya (Tamil Nadu) 2 (3.30M); R Jisha (Kerala) 3 (3.30M).
High jump: Samana Kumari (Jharkhand) 1 (1.82M); Kavya Muthanna (Uttarkhand) 2 (1.76M); Mallika Mondal (Bengal) 3 (1.73M).
3000M Steeplechase: Sudha Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 1 (10mins, 21.88secs); Kiran Tiwari (Madhya Pradesh) 2 (10:40.10); Rajashri Pateil (Maharashtra) 3 (10:51.14).