Amlan Borgohain shatters 4-year-old national record in men's 200m

Tenjhipalam (Malappuram): Before the heavens opened up on the final day, Amlan Borgohan won an early birthday gift for himself when he set a new national record in the men's 200m final of 25th National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships at the Calicut University Stadium here on Wednesday.

Competing with the likes of Muhammed Ajmal V, Elakkiyadasan K, who was second in 100m on Sunday, Vignesh A, Tamil Arasu, the Assamese boy, who will turn 24 on April 25, scorched the track in 20.52 seconds. In the process, he erased the national record of 20.63s set by Muhammed Anas in Jablonec Nad Nisou, Czech Republic in 2018 and the old Federation Cup meet record of 20.79s set by Anand Menzes in 2002.

His blistering effort also won him a ticket to the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games in September. The entry standard for the continental games was set at 20.60s.

"To be honest, I was depressed after my performances in the earlier rounds. But I proved that if there is a will there's a way," Amlan told The Bridge after the race, which was held under a growing drizzle.

Amlan's coach James Hillier was happy with the record show. "Amlan is not a work-in-progress athlete. He graduated from that level a couple of seasons ago. Today's national record proves it," said James, who also trains Jyothi Yarraji, who won gold in women's 100m hurdles on Monday.

Soon after Amlan's record performance, it started raining heavily, accompanied by thunder and lightning. Strong winds blew away the canopies and chairs at the venue as the Men's hammer throwers scurried to the nearest safe area. They were the first to return to the arena after a one-hour delay.

"All events will be held accordingly. We managed to replace the photo-finish camera which became useless after the rains with the help of hosts Calicut University. There will be no problem with the hammer throw and triple jump events as it will be measured manually," said Dr K Vijaya, technical director of the meet, said at this point.

After one hour, the organizers resumed with men's hammer throw and men's triple jump events, followed by the women's 200m final, which was won by Hima Das to make it a gold double for Assam.

"I have been warmed up for three hours, but naturally in these weather conditions we cannot perform as well as planned. We'll be going to Turkey soon for training and a couple of competitions. In between we'll come to Chennai for the Inter-state meet. I hope to make it (qualify for the Asiad) there," said Hima after clocking 23.63s.

Avinash makes memorable 5000m debut

Under fading lights, Olympian Avinash Sable - the national men's 3000m steeplechase record holder - made his switch to men's 5000m memorable by setting a new meet mark of 13 minutes 39.43 seconds, erasing the meet record of 13:47.28s set by G Lakshmanan in 2018.

Kartik Kumar (13.48.59s) who won the men's gold in 10000m on Saturday, was forced to be content with silver. Strong contender Abhishel Pal (13.48.99s) of UP won the bronze. All three met the Asian Games entry standard which was set at 13.50.00s.

In men's triple Jump, Kerala's Eldhose Paul leapt to 16.99m in his final attempt to claim gold with a new meet record. Praveen Chithravel of Tamil Nadu (16.84) and Paul's teammate Karthik Unnikrishnan (16.81m), who were second and third, also booked tickets for 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games (16.56m) and 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games (16.65m).

The women's hammer throw event witnessed a keen contest between Sarita Singh of Uttar Pradesh and Manju Singh of Rajasthan. It was won by the former with an effort of 64.36m while the latter took home silver with a final effort of 64.01m. Both also earned qualification marks for both the Commonwealth Games (64.00m) and the Asian Games (63.00m).

In the 400m hurdles, Olympian MP Jabir and Jakarta Asian Games bronze medallist Anu Raghavan won the men's and women's events respectively.

Final day (5) results

MEN

200m: Amlan Borgohain (Assam, 20.52s, NR & NMR. ONR 20.63s set by Muhammed Anas in 2018. OMR: 20.79s set by Anand Menezes in 2002), Akash Kumar (UP, 20.89), Muhammed Ajmal (Kerala, 20.92s); 5000m: Avinash Sable (Maharashtra, 13:39.43 NMR, OMR: 13:47.28 set by G Lakshmanan in 2018), Kartik Kumar (UP, 13:48.59s), Abhishek Pal (UP, 13:48.99s); 400m Hurdles: MP Jabir (Ker, 50.35s), T Santhosh Kumar (TN, 50.72s), Dhaval Utekar (Gujarat, 51.58s); triple jump: Eldhose Paul (Ker, 16.99m NMR, OMR: 16.85m set by Renjith Maheshwary in 2012), Praveen Chithravel (TN, 16.84m), Karthik Unnikrishnan (Ker, 16.81m); hammer throw: Deepak (Har, 60.83m), Bajinder Singh (Punjab, 59.62m), Gurdev Singh (Pun, 59.39m).

WOMEN

200m: Hima Das (Asm, 23.63s), Aishwarya Mishra (Maha, 23.64s), Priya H Mohan (Karnataka, 23.85s); 5000m: Parul Chaudhary (UP, 15:39.77s); Seema (HP, 15:40.60s), Sanjivani Jadhav (Mah, 15:42.80s); 400m Hurdles: Anu Raghavan (Ker, 58.63s), Arathi R (Ker, 59.44s), Simmy (Har, 59.87s); hammer throw: Sarita Singh (UP, 64.16m),Manju Singh (Raj, 64.01m), Tanya Chaudhary (UP, 59.84m).