17-year-old race walker from Haryana rewrites national record

For the second day running, a walker stole the limelight in the 18th National Federation Cup Juniors U20 Athletics Championships with a National Record time. Haryana’s Amit Khatri stamped his presence as the best among the country’s crop of U20 race walkers by winning the 10000m title on the final day at the TT Nagar Stadium here on Wednesday.

The curtain thus came down on the first National-level track and field competition in a year and some of the performances were indicative of how the athletes had not stopped training and were eager to test the outcome of their hard work. This showing raises expectations from the National Junior Athletics Championships which begins on February 6 in Guwahati.

The 17-year-old Amit clocked 40 minutes 40.97 seconds, winning by nearly half a minute from his State-mate Paramdeep Mor, to improve on the National Record of 40:37.78 set by Akshdeep Singh, in Ranchi in 2018 and the meet mark of 42:09.44 registered by Sanjay Kumar in Coimbatore in 2018. The Rohtak lad was only living up to his reputation as a record breaker.

Amit marked his presence first in 2018 when he claimed the U16 5000m Race Walk National Record in 21:17.63 and set a new meet mark of 40:28.00 in the winning U20 10000m race in the National Open Race Walking Championship on Ranchi roads in February last. He previous best on track was 43:36.26 in the National Youth Championships in Raipur in February 2019.

Rajasthan Hammer thrower Bhagwati Choudhary missed the National U20 record and the meet mark by a mere centimeter when she sent the ball and chain soaring over 52.33m. It was the closest anyone got to Seema Jhakar’s mark set in Lucknow in July 2009 and will mark the 19-year-old as one to look out for when she soon moves into the senior ranks.

Junior National Champion Praveen Chithravel creates a new Meet Record in Triple Jump at the Junior Federation Cup with a 16.01m leap in his fourth attempt! Two more attempts to go.

Way to go, Praveen! @afiindia #CraftingVictories

— Inspire Institute of Sport (@IIS_Vijayanagar) January 27, 2021

Tamil Nadu Triple jumper Praveen Chithravel, a Youth Olympic Games finalist in 2018, went past the 16m mark for the first time since March 2019 and got the meet mark with a 16.01m jump on his fourth try. Bhupender Singh (Haryana) laid down the gauntlet with a 15.81m effort, but Praveen was equal to the task and breached the 16m mark to suggest that his injury woes are behind him.

Chatru Gumnaram (Rajasthan) was another who rewrite a meet record. She won the 3000m in 9:45.87 to improve on the 9:47.28 set by Maharashtra’s Sanjivani Jadhav in Chennaj in 2014. Supriti Kachhap did the early running but it was Uttar Pradesh’s Rebi Pal who ran alongside Chatru Gumnaram’s shoulder until a sprint finish decided the winner.

Madhya Pradesh’s Sunil Dawar completed the 1500-5000m double by winning the longer race in 14 minutes 45.78 seconds while Abhin Devadiga (Karnataka) and Delhi’s Taranjeet Kaur turned in impressive 200m sprints, winning the men and women’s races in 21.50 seconds and 24.11 seconds respectively.

The results-

Men

200m: 1. Abhin B Devadiga (Karnataka) 21.50 seconds; 2. Aniket Choudhary (Telangana) 21.97; 3. Satwik Vermal (Delhi) 22.12.

800m: 1. Sree Kiran (Tamil Nadu) 1:52.06; 2. Irfan (Uttar Pradesh) 1:54.85; 3. MC Milan (Karnataka) 1:55.12.

5000m: 1. Sunil Dawar (Madhya Pradesh) 14:45.76; 2. Arjun Waskale (Maharashtra) 14:52.43; 3. Sathish Kumar M (Tamil Nadu) 15:02.40.

400m Hurdles: 1. Rakshith (Karnataka) 53.78; 2. RK Suryajith (Kerala) 53.83; 3. Rohan Gautam Kamble (Maharashtra) 54.72.

Triple Jump: 1. Praveen Chithravel (Tamil Nadu) 16.01 (New Meet Record. Old: 15.91, Abdulla Aboobacker, Hyderabad, 2015); 2. Bhupender Singh (Haryana) 15.81; 3. CD Akhil Kumar (Kerala) 15.80.

Shot Put: 1. Saurabh Mishra (Uttar Pradesh) 18.68m; 2. Amandeep Singh Dhaliwal (Punjab) 18.67; 3. Rudra Narayan Pandey (Uttar Pradesh) 18.21.

Hammer Throw: 1. Mohammed Tabis (Uttar Pradesh) 60.62m; 2. Mukul (Uttar Pradesh) 57.52; 3. Divakar Kumar Pandey (Madhya Pradesh) 57.01.

10000m Race Walk: 1. Amit Khatri (Haryana) 40:40.97 (New National & Meet Record. Old National Record: 40:37.78, Akshdeep Singh, Ranchi, 2018, Old Meet Record: 42:09.44, Sanjay Kumar, Coimbatore, 2018); 2. Paramdeep Mor (Haryana) 41:08.45; 3. Paramjeet Singh Bisht (Uttarakhand) 42:10.92.

Women

200m: 1. Taranjeet Kaur (Delhi) 24.11 seconds; 2. Ancy Sojan (Kerala) 24.24; 3. Payal Vohra (Delhi) 24.57.

800m: 1. Pooja (Haryana) 2:11.51; 2. Megha (Haryana) 2:15.46; 3. Sapna Rai (Uttar Pradesh) 2:16.77.

3000m: 1. Chatru Gumnaram (Rajasthan) 9:45.87 (New Meet record. Old: 9:47.28, Sanjivani Jadhav, Chennaj, 2014); 2. Rebi Pal (Uttar Pradesh) 9:47.21; 3. Supriti Kachhap (Jharkhand) 9:57.36.

400m Hurdles: 1. J Vishnu Priya (Kerala) 1:02.57; 2. Shewta Satappa Chikodi (Maharashtra) 1:02.72; 3. C Vishrutha (Tamil Nadu) 1:02.78.

Triple Jump: 1. P Babisha (Tamil Nadu) 12.52m; 2. Sharvari Avinash Parulekar (Maharashtra) 12.43; 3. Hema (Haryana) 12.23.

Javelin Throw: 1. Ujala Kumari Singh (West Bengal) 41.55m; 2. Harita (Haryana) 40.25; 3. Tanu (Haryana) 40.18.

Hammer Throw: 1. Bhagwati Choudhary (Rajasthan) 52.33m; 2. Aishwarya (Haryana) 48.30; 3. Amandeep Kaur (Punjab) 42.91.