Bhubaneswar: It needed something special to take the focus away from the long jump pit in the Indian Grand Prix 4 Athletics Competition at the Kalinga Stadium here on Tuesday night. And two young Javelin Throwers, Yashvir Singh (Rajasthan) and Rohit Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) delivered that performance by going past the 80m mark.
On a night when Nayana James produced two efforts over 6.37m to win the high-profile women’s Long Jump title from Ancy Sojan (6.35m) and World U20 Silver Medalist Shaili Singh (6.27m), Yashvir Singh wrested the spotlight with a winning effort of 82.13m. The 20-year-old thus became only the 12th Indian to send the spear over 80m.
The Rajasthan thrower became the third javelin thrower from the country after DP Manu (Karnataka) and Rohit Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) to join the 80m Club this year. Yashvir Singh, who missed the mark by a whisker in Patiala on March 17 last year, got his ahead of Rohit Yadav and Manu on Tuesday night to win gold.
The men’s Long Jump did not have as much drama as the women’s event since each of Muhammed Anees Yahiya’s four legal jumps on Tuesday night was good enough to fetch him gold. The Kerala jumper peaked with his two of his last three tries, crossing the 8.00m mark. The 8.15m effort on his fifth attempt was the best of the night.
From the home fans’ point of view, Amiya Kumar Mallick and Aryan Ekka’s 1-2 in the men’s 100m sprint as well as Srabani Nanda’s victory in the women’s 100m were pleasing. The two Odisha men drew from one another in the second of the four races. Srabani Nanda, running her first 100m in around a year, had to find her own pace to win in
The results:
Men
- 100m (Races A, B, C and D combined): 1. Amiya Kumar Mallick (Odisha) 10.74 seconds; 2. Aryan Ekka (Odisha) 10.86; 3. Karan Vivek Hegiste (Maharashtra) 10.95.
- 400m (Races A, B, C and D combined): 1. K Saran (Tamil Nadu) 47.42 seconds; 2. Ayush Dabas (Haryana) 47.49; 3. Rashid (Delhi) 48.28.
- 1500m: 1. Ajay Kumar Saroj (Uttar Pradesh) 3;43.36; 2. Rahul (Delhi) 3:43.95; 3. Shashi Bhushan Singh (West Bengal) 3:46.73.
- 3000m Steeplechase: 1. Balkishan (Haryana) 8:39.34; 2. Naveen Kumar Dagar (Haryana) 9:16.00; 3. Raghav (Uttar Pradesh) 9:24.64.
- 400m Hurdles (Races A and B combined): 1. MP Jabir (Kerala) 50.19 seconds; 2. Thomas Mathew (Kerala) 51.84; 3. Rohan Gautam Kamble (Maharashtra) 52.73.
- Long Jump: 1. Muhammed Anees Yahiya (Kerala) 8.15m; 2. Yugant Shekhar Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 7.73; 3. Lalu Prasad Bhoi (Odisha) 7.58.
- Discus Throw: 1. Kirpal Singh (Punjab) 59.92m; 2. Ranvir Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 50.36; 3. Ikram Khan (Madhya Pradesh) 48.45.
- Javelin Throw: 1. Yash Vir Singh (Rajasthan) 82.13m; 2. Rohit Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) 80.88; 3. DP Manu (Karnataka) 77.66.
Women
- 100m (Races A and B combined): 1. Srabani Nanda (Odisha) 11.87 seconds; 2. Rajshree Prasad (West Bengal) 12.18; 3. Angel Silvia (Tamil Nadu) 12.39
- 400m: 1. R Vithya Ramraj (Tamil Nadu) 53.95 seconds; 2. GK Vijayakumari (Karnataka) 54.67; 3. Soniya Baishya (West Bengal) 54.78.
- 1500m: 1. Lili Das (West Bengal) 4:22.39; 2. Namita Pradhan (Odisha) 4:59.09.
- 3000m Steeplechase: 1. Parul Chauhdary (Uttar Pradesh) 9:42.24; 2. Komal Chandrakant Jagdale (Maharashtra) 10:00.20; 3. Kajal Sharma (Uttar Pradesh) 10:23.10.
- 400m Hurdles: 1. Anu Raghavan (Kerala) 59.70 seconds.
- Pole Vault: 1. Baranica Elangovan (Tamil Nadu) 4.05m; 2. Rosy Meena Paulraj (Tamil Nadu) 4.00; 3. Preethika Anandhan (Tamil Nadu) 3.40.
- Long Jump: 1. Nayana James (Kerala) 6.37m; 2. Ancy Sojan (Kerala) 6.35; 3. Shaili Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 6.27.
- Discus Throw: 1. Navjeet Kaur Dhillon (Punjab) 54.79m; 2. Seema Antil (Uttar Pradesh) 53.57; 3. Nidhi Rani (Haryana) 49.85.
- Javelin Throw: 1. Sanjana Choudhary (Rajasthan) 56.59m; 2. Sharmila Kumari (Haryana) 55.48; 3. Shilpa Rani (Haryana) 51.98.
Indian Grand Prix 4 Concludes:
Secretary to CM (5T) Sri VK Pandian graced the closing ceremony of the Indian Grand Prix 4 & presented the Best Male and Female Athlete of the competition with mementos
Muhammed Anees Yahiya emerged as the Best Male Athlete while Parul Chaudhary won the Best Female Athlete award
Kerala’s Muhammed Anees jumped a whopping distance of 8.15m to win the long jump event while Uttar Pradesh’s Parul Chaudhary won the Women’s 3000m Steeplechase clocking 9:42.24.
