Delhi’s decathlete Tejaswin Shankar wins battle of wills, while Jyothi Yarraji adds 100m hurdles title to her kitty

Delhi’s Tejaswin Shankar claimed a grueling decathlon title to secure Asian Games berth, while 100m champion Jyothi Yarraji of Andhra Pradesh added the 100m hurdles title to her kitty on the third day of the 62nd National Inter State Senior Athletics Championship on Friday. On another exciting day, as many as 12 athletes achieved Asian Games berths.

West Bengal’s 2018 Asian Games champion in heptathlon Swapna Barman ensured she will defend her title at the Hangzhou Asian Games as she bettered the qualification points of 5654. She won gold with 5918 points. Both decathlon and heptathlon are spread over two days.

Telangana’s Agasara Nandini finished second with 5703 points to win the Asian Games berth.

On her way to winning gold in the women’s 100m hurdles, Andhra Pradesh’s promising hurdler Jyothi Yarraji dipped below the Asian Games qualification time of 13.63 secs. Despite clocking 12.92 seconds the champion athlete wasn’t excited.

“I wanted to break the 12.90 seconds barrier. But I fumbled at the third hurdle, which spoiled my rhythm and I missed my goal today,” Jyothi said after winning second gold of the competition.

A sustained effort by Nithya R of Tamil Nadu and Agasara Nandini from Telangana gave them something to cheer as they sailed past the Asian Games qualification time of 13.63 seconds.

Nithya R finished second at 13.48 secs, while Agasara Nandini who also qualified in heptathlon was third in 13.55 secs.

The high jumping pit duo of Sarvesh Anil Kushare (Maharashtra) and Jesse Sandesh (Karnataka) celebrated by equaling the Asian Games mark of 2.24m. However, Sarvesh Anil Kushare was the winner, while Jesse Sandesh finished second.

In the men’s triple jump event top three athletes---Praveen Chithravel, Abdulla Aboobacker, and Eldhose Paul—finished in that order---cleared the Asian Games qualification mark of 16.60m. Meanwhile, Akhilesh of Karnataka badly injured his right leg during take-off after the first jump and was out of competition.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) selection committee will take a final call on how many athletes will represent the country in each event.

Results (All final)

Men: 110mh (AG Q 13.57 secs): Tejas Ashok Shirse (Maharashtra) 13.87 secs, Sachin Binu (Kerala) 13.99 secs, Ronald Babu (Madhya Pradesh) 14.24 secs.

High jump (AG Q 2.24m): Sarvesh Anil Kushare (Maharashtra) 2.24m, Jesse Sandesh (Karnataka) 2.24m, Bharathi Viswanathan (Tamil Nadu) 2.17m

Triple jump (AG Q 16.60m): Praveen Chithravel (Tamil Nadu) 17.07m, Abdulla Aboobacker (Kerala) 16.88m, Eldhose Paul (Kerala) 16.75m.

Hammer throw (AG Q 71.10m) Taranveer Singh Bains (Punjab) 68.07m, Nitesh Poonia (Rajasthan) 67.10m, Damneet Singh (Punjab) 65.86m.

Decathlon (AG Q 7500 points): Tejaswin Shankar (Delhi) 7576 points, Yamandeep Sharma (Rajasthan) 7165 points, Gokul Sharma (Kerala) 6937 points

Women:

100mh (AG Q 13.63 secs): Jyothi Yarraji (Andhra Pradesh) 12.92 secs, Nithya R (Tamil Nadu) 13.48 secs, Agasara Nandini (Telangana) 13.55 secs.

Pole vault: Pavithra Venkatesh (Tamil Nadu) 4.10m, Sindhushree G (Karnataka)3.80m, Vanshika Ghanghas (Haryana) 3.40m.

Heptathlon (AG Q 5654 points): Swapna Barman (Madhya Pradesh) 5918 points, Agasara Nandini (Telangana) 5703 points, Sowmiya Murugan (Andhra Pradesh) 5323 points.