Bengaluru: Kerala successfully defended their overall championship in the Federation Cup National junior athletics championship which concluded at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Thursday.
The defending champions bagged 152 points to retain their top spot ahead of Haryana who finished second with 129 points. Haryana bagged top spot in the men’s section with 91 points ahead of Kerala (67) while the latter tallied highest in the women’s division with 85 points to finish above Tamil Nadu (75).
Haryana’s Pankaj Malik was the best athlete in the men’s section while Lili Das from West Bengal bagged the top honours among the women. On Day Three, Delhi’s Amoj Jacob caused the biggest upset as he blew past Beant Singh, who was firm favourite, in the last 25 meters to clinch the gold medal with a time of 1:52.22 seconds in the 800M event.
“In the last 150 meters I felt that if I sprint, I can catch him. I didn’t know if I could beat him but I knew I could catch him,” said Jacob, who clocked his best time, after the race. Singh, who already qualified for the World Junior Athletics to be held in Poland, clocked 1:52.40s while Deepak (1:54.39s) of Uttar Pradesh came in third.
In the women’s competition, Lili continued her dominant show, grabbing another gold by stopping the clock at 2:08.28 seconds. Harmilan Kaur (2:11.73s) from Punjab and Tamil Nadu’s Priya (2:11.82s) completed the podium.
For Karnataka, M Kiran got the only gold of the competition in the 200M event. Kiran stopped the clock at 12.62 seconds to grab the yellow metal ahead of Joseph Joe M (22.18s) of Kerala and Chandigarh’s Pankaj Malik (22.25s). Meanwhile, Karnataka’s Shraddha Shetty bagged bronze in the women’s 3000M steeplechase event with a time of 12:54.90.
Results: Men: 4x400M relay: 1. Haryana 3:17.79s, 2. Delhi 3:22.79s, 3. Kerala 3:22.79s. 3000M steeplechase: 1. Vicky Tomar (DEL) 9:22.76s, 2. Sohan (UTK) 9:55.71s, 3. Pinchu Kumar (UTK) 9:57.31s.
Javelin throw: 1. Gaurav Yadav (UP) 68.86m, 2. Abhishek Drall (DEL) 66.75m, Mohd. Hadeesh (UP) 65.82m. Pole vault: 1. Kunwar Gyaneni (UP) 4.60m, Dhirndra Kumar (Guj) 4.50m, 3. Jessan KG (KER) 4.40m. Triple jump: 1. Sonu Kumar (RAJ) 15.83m, 2. Sanal Scaria (KER) 14.92m, 3. Ramdeo Tigga (JHA) 14.98m. Hammer Throw: 1. Ashish Jakhar (HAR) 68.47m, Pradeep Kumar (RAJ) 65.97m, Meraj Ali (UP) 63.62m. 400M hurdles: 1. Aftab Alam (UP) 52.95s, 2. Amarjeet (HAR) 54.52s, Divin Damodara (KER) 54.63s. 800M: 1. Amoj Jacob P.A (DEL) 1:52.22s, 2. Beant Singh (HAR) 1:52.40s, 3. Deepak (UP) 1:54.39s. 200M: 1. M Kiran (KAR) 21.62s, 2. Joseph Joe M (KER) 22.18s, 3. Pankaj Malik (CHA) 22.25s.
Women: 4x400M relay: 1. Kerala 3:52.29s, 2. West Bengal 3:59.73s. 10000M run: 1. Abhishek Pal (ASM) 30:42.22s, 2. Kisan Tadvi (MAH) 30:50.15s, 3. Gavit Murli (GUJ) 31:09.61s. 3000M Steeplechase: 1. Nandini Gupta (UP) 11:47.94s, 2. Khushboo Gupta (UP) 11:55.08s, 3. Shraddha Shetty (KAR) 12:54.90s. 3000M run: 1. Sudha Pal (UP) 10:16.85s, 2. Anmol Thampi (KER) 10:19.60s, 3. Rima Patel (Bihar) 10:24.76s. High jump: 1. Laimwn Narzary (ASM) 1.67m, 2. Rajeshwari Das (WB) 1.61m, Payal Kanwar (RAJ) 1.61, 400M hurdles: 1. Tiasha Samadder (WB) 1:01.98s, 2. Sayana PO (KER) 1:03.59s, 3. Anurupa Kumari (JHA) 1:04.87s. Heptathlon: 1. Aleena Vincent (KER) 4153 points, 2. Shivango Rawat (DEL) 4128 points, 3. Kanimozhi (TN) 4075 points. 800M: 1. Lili Das (WB) 2:08.28s, 2. Harmilan Kaur (PUN) 2:11.73s, 3. Priya (TN) 2:11.82s. Hammer throw: 1. Shital (HAR) 48.43m, 2. Rekha Singh (UTK) 45.17m, 3. Srinithi (TN) 44.63m. 200M: 1. Subha (TN) 24.83s, 2. Anwesha Roy Pradhan (WB) 25.12s, 3. Komal Sharma (UP) 24.47s.
Overall champions: 1. Kerala 152 points, 2. Haryana 129 points. Junior men: 1. Haryana 91 ponits, Kerala 67 points. Junior women: 1. Kerala 85 points 2. Tamil Nadu 76 points Best Athlete: Men: Pankaj Malik (HAR) 1044 points, Women: Lili Das (WB) 1011 points.
