Top names to the fore at the Indian Athletics Final Series

Even as the biggest names in Indian track and field turned out to test themselves one last time before the Asian Games, hammer thrower Tanya Chaudhary hogged the limelight at the Indian Athletics Final Series on Thursday.

Tanya took gold with a best of 68.35m for a new National record while 18-year-old Anushka Yadav, who became the youngest National record-holder two months back with a 67.02m effort, took silver with 66.34m.

Sadly, there were barely any witnesses to the special occasion as the event was held in the warm-up field of play outside the main ground.

“I was confident because even though it was not officially ratified, I threw beyond 67m at the inter-university games. I have been chasing this record for the last three years, so it feels really good. We have been focusing only on the technical aspects of the throw in training, not as much on power,” Tanya said. “The target now is to go even better and not go below this at the Asian Games. My target for this year was to manage the 70m mark and it is all building towards that.”

The men’s event also witnessed a new National record as Delhi’s Nirbhay Choudhary bettered the decade-old mark of Neeraj Kumar with 71.02m.

On the track, Animesh Kujur sprinted to victory in 10.21 seconds in the 100m ahead of Gurindervir Singh (10.32s) and Rushiprasad Singh (10.33s).

Harita Bhadra, who will represent India in the 200m, took the top spot among women in 11.22s.

“This was my last 100m event for this season and I wanted to do my best, the target now is a medal at the Asian Games,” Harita said.

Animesh completed a 100m-200m double late in the night, winning the latter in 20.59s.

Vishal T.K. expectedly won the packed 400m in 45.36s, followed by Jay Kumar and Manu T.S. Quite interestingly, six of the eight clocked under 46s.

Avinash Sable, returning to steeplechase after almost a year and half, proved he still had no competition, winning more than 18 seconds ahead of second-placed Shubham Bhandare.

The top finishers all received ₹1 lakh prize money.

The results (winners only): Men: 100m: Animesh Kujur (10.21s); 200m: Animesh Kujur (20.59); 400m: Vishal T.K. (45.36); 800m: Mohd. Afsal (1:46.40); 1,500m: Rahul Baloda (3:39.89); 110mH: Krishik Manjunath (13.65); 400mH: T. Santhosh Kumar (50.08); 3,000m steeplechase: Avinash Sable (8:32.39); Long jump: Mohd. Sazid Atta (8.01m); Triple jump: Karthik Unnikrishnan (16.43m); High jump: Aadarsh Ram (2.18m); Javelin: Rohit Yadav (81.10m); Hammer: Nirbhay Choudhary (71.02m); Shot put: Tajinderpal Singh Toor (20.64m); Pole vault: Dev Meena (5.40m).

Women: 100m: Harita Bhadra (11.22s); 400m: Aishwarya Mishra (52.51s); 800m: Lili Das (2:03.41); 1,500m: Thota Sankeerthana (4:37.95); 100mH: Nandhini Kongan (13.30s); 400mH: Anu Raghavan (57.23s); 3000m steeplechase: Parul Chaudhary (9:22.49); Long jump: Ancy Sojan (6.76m); Triple jump: Asha Ilango (13.76m); High jump: Pooja Singh (1.81m); Javelin: Annu Rani (57.50m); Hammer: Tanya Chaudhary (68.35m); Discus: Seema Kaliramana (56.52m); Shot put: Manpreet Kaur (17.19m); Pole vault: Nitika Akare (4.10m).