Kumar touches 8-metre mark,sets meet record

Olympians Sahana Kumari of Karnataka and Tintu Luka of Kerala won their respective events while Tamil Nadu long jumper Prem Kumar

Olympians Sahana Kumari of Karnataka and Tintu Luka of Kerala won their respective events while Tamil Nadu long jumper Prem Kumar set a new meet record on the second day of the 53rd National Inter-State Senior Athletic Championships on Wednesday. Prem Kumar cleared 8m in his fifth and final jump to set a new meet record. Arshad of Karnataka 7.85m was second while Ankit Sharma of Madhya Pradesh was third with 7.67m.

Favourite Luka,watched by her mentor P T Usha,won the womens 800m race in 2:04.14s. She led all through the race and finished three seconds ahead of Gomathi of Tamil Nadu 2:07.33s. Haryanas Sushma Devi 2:07.95s was third.

Thirty-two-year-old Sahana was the main attraction in the high jump event,which she won with an effort of 1.88m. She,however,couldnt match her own personal best of 1.92m,which is also the national record. Mallika Mondal of Bengal 1.74m and ND Tintu of Kerala 1.68m won the silver and bronze medals respectively. Coming back from an injury after two years,local girl G Gayathry brought cheer to the home state with gold in the 100m hurdles,while Keralas Pinto Mathew bagged her maiden title at senior level when he clinched gold in a tight race in the mens 110m hurdles.

Results: Men: 400m: 1. Kunhu Mohammad Ker 46.71s,2. Neeraj Pawar UP 46.97s,3. Rajiv Arokia TN 47.08s; 800m: 1. Sajeesh Joseph Ker 1:49.04s,2. Manjit Singh Har 1:49.11s,3. Francis Sahayam TN 1:49.77s; 110m hurdles: 1. Pinto Mathew Ker 14.56s,2. Balamurugan TN 14.76s,3. Sadeep Parmar Mah 14.82s; Long jump: 1. Prem Kumar TN 8.00m,2. Arshad Kar 7.85m,3. Ankit Sharma MP 7.67m; Decathlon: 1. Bharatainder Singh Har 6963 pts,2. Daya Ram Raj 6925 pts,3. Kumbhar K Dilip Mah 6831pts; Shot put: 1. Inderjeet Singh Har 18.92m,2. Ashwani Solanki Del 18.35m,3. Tejinderpal Singh Pun 18.30m; Javelin: 1. Krishna Kumar UP 74.80m,2. Samarjeet Singh Raj 73.16m,3. Rajender Singh Har 72.96m.

Women: 400m: 1. Poovamma Kar 52.85s,2. Nirmala Har 53.94s,3. Anu Mariam Joseph Ker 54.59s; 800m: 1. Tintu Luka Ker 2.04.14s,2. Gomathi TN 2:07.33s,3. Sushma Devi Har 2:07.95s; 100m hurdles: 1. G Gayathry TN 13.97s,2. J Hamashree TN 14.04s,3. KV Sajitha Ker 14.33s; High jump: 1. Sahana Kumari Kar 1.88m,2. Mallika Mondal Ben 1.74m,3. ND Tintu Ker 1.68m; Shot put: 1. Udaya Laxmi AP 13.68m,2. Neha Singh MP 13.56m,3. Navjit Kaur Pun 13.49m.