RANCHI, NOV 11 : Indian national anthem was played repeatedly at Birsa Munda Athletics Stadium as the athletes from host nation won 12 out of 14 finals decided on the first day of competitions in the Jharkhand state capital.
However Sri Lanka’s little wonder Siwanthi Kumari Rathnayake snatched the first gold of the meet as the reigning Asian Junior champion justified her billing with a brilliant run to capture the junior women’s 400m in 56.87 secs. Teammate Nirmali Madushika (57.01s) and Indian quarter-miler Shaharbana Sidhique (57.15s) were second and third respectively.
The island nation also won a second gold through triple jumper Vidusha Lakshani with a leap of 12.68m. India’s Rochelle Maria Macfarlane, the silver medallist at both Asian Youth Games and Asian Schools Athletics championships, could manage only 12.49m this evening ahead compatriot Jenimol Joy who finished third in 12.30m. Lakshani, a bronze medallist in the Asian schools meet behind Rochelle, praised the petit Rochelle who was one place above her on the victory podium in Kuantan. “I was lucky
to win here as Rochelle could not repeat her effort from Malaysia” Vidusha revealed after the event. The triple jump for junior women was introduced for the first time in the championships at Ranchi.
The athletics fans from Ranchi, who assembled in large number, cheered the Indian athletes throughout the session. Archana Suseentran and Augustine Yesudas, the sprint-stars who hails from down south, responded well with their splendid run. Archana clocked a personal best 12.06 secs to erase Jessy Arulappan’s meet mark of 12.10s and won the gold for junior women.
Augustine, who posted a national junior mark of 10.57 secs in the National Inter-Zone championships at Kochi, had some in the qualifying heats earlier as he along with couple of other athletes ran the full distance as they could not hear the foul-start warning. He ran a slow re-race in caution to finish second in his heats with a moderate 11 secs. However in the finals he was back in action with his usual uncompromised style and went on to post a new meet mark in 10.61 secs. Teammate Husandeep Singh
and Sri Lankan Himasha Eashan returned identical 10.64 secs in the next two spots. All the three podium finishers bettered the previous mark of 10.69 secs held by ace Sri Lankan sprinter Shehan Ambepitiya.
Indian athletes eclipsed six other meet records too. Flag-bearer Shakti Solanki maintained his winning streak with a remarkable 17.89m toss in the shot put. Spearman Parvinder Kumar hurled the javelin to a new distance of 67.63m. There was an interesting dual in the high jump arena between Sreenith Mohan (India) and Thilina Karunaratne (Sri Lanka). The Lankan, credited with a personal best of 2.16m, locked in to a battle with Sreenith all the way but had a failure in the height of 2.06m. Both the jumpers fail to clear further heights and hence the Indian declared as the winner while the two shared the record-height of 2.06m. Javelin thrower C.K. Prajitha was the first to set a record in the after-noon with a throw
of 41.69m.
On the track the tiny tot P.U. Chitra, who won a distance double in the recently concluded Asian Schools Athletics Championships at Kuantan (Malaysia), ran a well calculated race and registered a new time of
4:32.13. In the final event of the day, junior men’s 400m, Sandeep Lathwal emerged winner (48.24 secs) by piping country-mate A. Dharun (48.44s) and Lankan Harsha Chathuranga (48.53s) as the trio removed the previous record from the books.
Results: Girls U-20: Javelin Throw: 1. C.K. Prajitha (India) 41.69m, 2. A.P.S.Chamika Gunarathna (Sri Lanka) 40.94m, 3. Swapna Barman (India) 37.48m. 100m: 1. S. Archana (India) 12.06, 2. P. Deepika ( India) 12.22, 3. Rumeshika Kumari Rathnayaka (Sri Lanka) 12.23. 400m: 1. Siwanthi Kumari (Sri Lanka) 56.87, 2. Nirmali Madushika ( Sri Lanka) 57.01, 3. T.P.Shaharbana Sidhique (India) 57.15. Shot Put: 1. Meghna Devanga (India) 12.76m, 2. W. Amanthi Oashadi Silva (Sri Lanka) 11.96m, 3. Tunlai Narzary (India) 11.31m. Triple Jump: 1. H.D.Vidusha Lakshani (Sri Lanka) 12.68m, 2. Rochelle Maria Macfarlane (India) 12.49m, 3. Jenimol Joy (India) 12.30m. 1500m: 1. P.U. Chitra (India) 4:32.13, 2. Preeti Lamba (India) 4:33.71, 3. S.G.Mahesha Kumari Weerasingha ( Sri Lanka) 4:52.46.
Boys U-20: Triple Jump: 1. S.N.Mohammed Salahuddin (India) 15.47m, 2. Atheetha N. Karunasinghe (Sri Lanka) 15.41m, 3. Mohd. Zuber (India) 15.19m. Shot Put: 1. Shakti Solanki (India) 17.89m, 2. Chataniya Dabas ( India) 16.84m, 3. Daluwattage S. Sumanaweera (Sri Lanka 15.62m. High Jump: 1. Sreenith Mohan (India) 2.06m, 2. Thilina Karunaratne (Sri Lanka) 2.06m, 3. Rupender Sandhu ( India) 2.04m). 5000m: 1. Albin Sunny (India) 15:17.26, 2. Vikas Malik (India) 15:19.29, 3. Danushka Maduranga (Sri Lanka) 15:57.76. Javelin Throw: 1. Parvinder Kumar (India) 67.63m, 2. W.C. Lavus Livingtone (Sri Lanka) 61.07m, 3. Birendra Singh (India) 58.29m. 800m: 1. Arjun Khokhar (India) 1:54.00, 2. Kupun Kushantha (Sri Lanka) 1:54.08, 3. Mandeep Goyat (India) 1:55.62. 100m: 1. Augustine Yesudas (India) 10.61, 2. Husandeep Singh (India) 10.64, 3. Himasha Eashan (Sri Lanka) 10.64. 400m: 1. Sandeep Lathwal (India) 48.24, 2. A. Dharun (India) 48.44, 3. Harsha Chathuranga Pieris (Sri Lanka) 48.53.