Wind turns villain for Jyothi Yarraji; Annu Rani punches tickets for CWG, Asiad

Tenjhipalam (Malappuram): Winds turned villainous on the second consecutive day at the 25th National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships at the Calicut University Stadium here on Monday, this time dashing Jyothi Yarraji's dreams.

She clocked 13.09s in the women's 100m hurdles, which would have been a new national record had it not been for the tailwind of 2.1 metres/second. The official permissible wind assistance is 2.0m/s.

Jyothi, 22, the daughter of a security guard from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, put up a brave face and managed to wear a smile as media persons broke the news that her splendid show would not be ratified as a NR.

"I'll keep trying in the next meet, the inter-state meet in Chennai in June. It's not a problem, I will keep trying until I succeed but I'm happy with my effort, I tried my best," Jyothi told reporters in the mixed zone after winning her maiden senior national title.

However, this is not the first time Jyothi 'has broken' the 20-year-old national record of 13.38s, set by Anuradha Biswal in 2002.

In 2020, at the All India Inter-University meet in Moodbidri, she had recorded 13.03s. Back then, her timing was not counted as a national record due to the absence of National Anti-Doping Agency officials.

Since the Federation Cup is a national meet NADA was present on Sunday, but tail wind crushed the young girl's big dreams to clinch berths for Birmingham Commonwealth Games and the Hangzhou Asian Games. The entry standards for CWG and Asiad were 13.11s and 13.30s respectively.

This is the second successive day that wind has been responsible for the non-ratification of a new national record. On Sunday, Jeswin Aldrin's effort of 8.36m in men's long jump too was blamed on wind assistance of 4.1m/s.

Local organisers now fear that the venue will now be treated as a nightmare one by sprinters, throwers and jumpers. This is the first major sporting event here. It was opened in 2016 and has hosted one national youth meet, the prestigious Kerala state schools meet and the state championship over the years.

Annu achieves entry standards for CWG, Asiad

Meanwhile in the throw arena, Tokyo Olympian Annu Rani of Meerut, Uttar Pradesh threw the spear to 61.15 metres in her fifth attempt. Opening with a modest throw of 60.14m, her series included 59.01m, 57.55m, 57.77m, 61.15m and 59.90.

"The heat was unbearable. I struggled a lot here today due to heat and moreover I had to keep an eye on the wind too since I have to finish each attempt in one minute," Annu told The Bridge. This will take the reigning national record holder in women's javelin throw to both the CWG and Asiad.

"I will try to surpass my own national record of 63.24m in Chennai during National Inter-State from June 10 to 14," added the defending champion.

In men's shot put, Asian Games champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor of Punjab struggled to cross the 20m mark. In fact the defending champion had only one effort over the 19m mark, a 19.14m which fetched him gold in his second attempt.

Tejinderpal's coach Dronacharya Mohinder Singh Dhillon, said: "The shot put circle was so dry that he couldn't turn the way he wanted. It was the same for all the 12 competitors, that's why all of them struggled to make a mark."

In women's long jump, Kerala's Nayana James won gold with a 6.47m jump on her fifth leap, which helped her achieve the Asiad entry standards. Her rival Ancy Sojan, who had a jump of 6.51m in Trivandrum National Jumps Competition on March 1, had a relatively modest outing.

Sarvesh Kushare of Maharashtra, who won the men's high jump gold by clearing 2.25m, also achieved the Asian Games qualification standard.

In women's 3000m steeplechase, Komal Jagdale of Karnataka coasted home with a personal best of 9 minutes 47.86 seconds. Her efforts will take her to the Hangzhou Asiad to be held in September too.

In men's 800m heats, 2018 Jakarta Asian Games gold medallist Manjit Singh managed to qualify for the final as one of the two fastest losers from the three heats.

In the women's side, Lili Das of West Bengal is in line for a double gold when she led the qualification round. On Sunday she won the gold in 1500m.

Day 3 final results

MEN

3000m Steeplechase: Shankar Lal Swami (Haryana, 8:32.01s), Balkishan (Har, 8:38.32s), Prince Raj Mishra (Sikkim, 8:41.42s); 110m hurdles: Siddhanth Thingalaya (Maharashtra, 14.08s), Tarundeep Singh Bhatia (Punjab, 14.27), M Krishik (Karnataka, 14.60); high jump: Sarvesh Kushare (Maha, 2.25m), R Manivannan (TN 2.15m), Jesse Sandesh (Kar, 2.15m); shot put: Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Pun, 19.12m), Karanveer Singh (Pun, 19.07m), Naresh Antil (Har, 18.00m).

WOMEN

3000m steeplechase: Komal Jagdale (Maha, 9:47.86), Richa Bhaduriya (UP, 10:14.53s), G Maheshwari (Telangana, 10:47.30s); 100m hurdles: Jyothi Yarraji (Andhra Pradesh,13.08s), Moumita Mondal (West Bengal, 13.78s), C Kanimozhi (TN, 13.88s); long jump: Nayana James (Kerala, 6.47m), Ancy Sojan (Ker, 6.33m), Sandra Babu (Ker, 6.32m); javelin throw: Annu Rani (UP, 61.15m), Shilpa Rani (Har, 55.72m), Sanjana Choudhary (Rajasthan, 54.19m).