Kerala emerge overall champions

Punjab's Birkiran Singh had his share of glory in the two-day National Inter-State (u-22) Athletic Championship when he set a meet record of...

Punjab’s Birkiran Singh had his share of glory in the two-day National Inter-State (u-22) Athletic Championship when he set a meet record of 67.10m in the hammer throw event. Birkiran bettered Delhi’s Suresh Kumar’s effort of 65.13m.

On the final day, which witnessed as many 11 meet records tumbling, Ritu Rani Chaudhary of Delhi hogged the limelight in the women’s section with a record in hammer throw. She measured a distance of 53.19m to erase Y Brojeshwari Devi’s effort of 50.35m. But it was Kerala which dominated the two-day event and walked away with the winners title. Kerala finished ahead of Punjab with 155 points followed by the hosts with 149 points. Haryana accumulated 102 points to take the third spot.

Bengal’s Pinki Pramanik and Kerala’s Robin PJ were declared the best sportspersons in the women’s and men’s categories, respectively. Punjab had their share of glory winning the men’s title followed by Haryana. Kerala garnered 58 points to finish third.

Other new records:

(Women section): Triple jump: Kunhumol EC (Kerala) 12.56m (NMR).

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1000m: Pampa Chanda (West Bengal) 35:49 sec (old record was held by 35:56.1 second by Madhuri Gurnule (Maharashtra) in Vizag; 4x100m replay: Kerala with 48.46 sec (old record was held by Karnataka — 48.60 sec).
Pole vault: Deepa Chaudhary (Delhi) with 3 m (old record was held by VS Surwkha (Tamil Nadu) with a distance of 2.50m. Heptathalon: Manju (Kerala, 5064; old record was held by P Sneha Pandey — Tamil Nadu, 4644 pts). Men’s 200m: Bhupinder Singh (Punjab) 21.84 sec (old record 21.90 sec held by Sunil Kumar).
Triple jump: Bhupinder Singh (Punjab, 15.50m, old record 15.35m held by Sanjay Kumar Rai of UP); 4x400m relay: Punjab, 3:16.78 sec; old record held by Bihar (3:19.18 at Trichur in 2001); Decathlon: Dhanraj Rai (UP) with 6497 pts (old record held by Rajesh Kumar (Haryana) with 6233 pts at Trichur in 2001.

RESULTS

Overall Championship: Kerala 155, Punjab 149, Haryana 102
Men: Punjab 108, Haryana 71, Kerala 58, Women: Kerala 97, WB 70, PUnjab 41.
Best athlete: Robin PJ (Kerala) 12 points. Women: Pinki (WB) 17 points.