National Inter-State athletics: Fit-again Anjali wins 400m gold
Anjali, whose earlier personal best was 51.53s, left behind the Asian Games qualifying timing of 52.96s by nearly one-and-a-half second.
Anjali Devi
BHUBANESWAR: Returning to the track after nearly four years following an injury lay-off, Haryana’s Anjali Devi recorded a personal best timing to win the women’s 400m gold medal at the National Inter-State Championships here on Friday and assure herself a spot in the Asian Games-bound India contingent.
Anjali, who last ran a 400m race in October 2019 at the Indian Open Championships in Ranchi, clocked 51.58 seconds to pip Haimashi Malik (51.76s), also from Haryana, for the gold medal at the Kalinga Stadium here. Anjali, whose earlier personal best was 51.53s, left behind the Asian Games qualifying timing of 52.96s by nearly one-and-a-half second.
Haimashi, bronze-medal winner R Vithya Ramraj of Tamil Nadu (52.49s) and fourth-place finisher Aishwarya Kailash Mishra from Maharashtra (52.79s) also ran below the Asian Games qualifying timing. But only two of the four athletes will be selected as a country can send a maximum of two participants per event.
In men’s 400m, Sri Lankan Kalinga Kumarage won gold, clocking 45.64s, while national record holder Muhammed Anas Yahiya of Kerala clinched silver with a timing of 45.76s. Muhammed Ajmal, also from Kerala, and Amoj Jacob of Delhi were third and fourth respectively with timings of 45.90s and 45.91s. All four bettered the Asian Games qualifying timing of 46.17s.
B Shiva Kumar of Tamil Nadu emerged as the fastest man of the championships as he clocked 10.37s to win the 100m gold medal. Jyothi Yarraji of Andhra Pradesh was the fastest woman, recording 11.46s to clinch the yellow metal in the 100m dash. Neither of them could qualify for the Asian Games.