Sukanya does UP proud

Sukanya Mall of Uttar Pradesh did the state proud when she emerged fastest among Indians and 22nd overall in the prestigious Delhi half-marathon event held on Sunday. The Deoria girl clocked 1:20:11 at the international meet.

Back home at Deoria,a warm reception awaits the promising athlete. Talking to The Indian Express,Shivanand Nayak general secretary District Athletics Association Deoria confided,“The district athletics association as well as various schools of the district have planned to hold a grand felicitation function in her honour as she has done both UP and Deoria proud. The honour ceremony will be held at around 11.00 am on Monday during an athletics trials when she and her coach Umesh Singh reach here from Delhi.”

Nayak said that after winning golds at the under-14 and the under-17 state meets earlier,we were quite overwhelmed when she triumphed at the Indira Gandi Marathon last year. Now through her efforts in the Delhi marathon she has proved that if given good encouragement,she has all the capability to excel at international meets in the near future. “Her father is a fourth class employee at Purvanchal Gramin Bank and mother is housewife. We have been ensuring that she gets good training in Deoria. With good financial backing,I am sure that this 19-year-old can emerge as a very promising athlete of the country.”