National Interstate Athletics Championships: Manpreet Kaur breaks 18m barrier in shotput, qualifies for Birmingham Commonwealth Games

Haryana’s Manpreet Kaur stole the show at the National Interstate Athletics Championships in Chennai on Saturday with a national record of 18.06m in women’s shotput event. It also earned her a ticket to the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The 31-year-old is the first Indian to break the 18m barrier in shotput and bettered the Birmingham Commonwealth Games qualifying mark of 17.76m.

Keen contest in men's javelin for Commonwealth Games spot

There was an exciting contest at the javelin throw arena also. Karnataka’s 22-year-old Manu DP hogged the limelight by achieving a distance of 84.35m in his third attempt to erase the previous meeting record of 82.28m.

The result will certainly strengthen his position to earn a spot in the national squad for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. This is the second time that the javelin thrower from Pune has crossed the 80m mark in domestic competition.

Rohit Yadav, 23, too improved the previous meeting mark by recording a throw of 82.54m in his fifth attempt. Still, his performance was eclipsed by Manu’s throw. All competitors in the final have six attempts. The final would be another chance to make a case for Commonwealth Games qualification.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games champion Neeraj Chopra is the Athletics Federation of India's (AFI) first choice in the men’s javelin for the Commonwealth Games.

National Interstate Athletics Championships: Track events

Far from the throwing arena, star sprinter Dutee Chand of Odisha suffered the season’s first defeat. She was bettered by the world junior 400m champion Hima Das of Assam in the women’s 100m dash. Hima crossed the finish line in 11.43 seconds to win gold, while Dutee settled for silver in 11.44 seconds.

The men’s blue ribbon event was won by Amlan Borgohain of Assam, whose winning time was 10.47 seconds.

Karnataka’s Priya Mohan pulled out of the women’s 400m final race as she was unwell. In Priya’s absence, Haryana’s Kiran Pahal battled Rupal Chaudhary of Uttar Pradesh for the gold medal. Kiran eventually edged past Rupal to win the title. Delhi’s Amoj Jacob broke the 46-second barrier in the men’s 400m final.

Tokyo Olympian Murali Sreeshankar further improved the meeting record in the long jump. His gold medal-winning performance was 8.23m, which was better than the 8.01m he had recorded in the preliminary round on Friday.

National Interstate Athletics Championships: Results from finals

Men

100m: 1. Amlan Borgohain (Assam) 10.47 seconds; 2. K Elakkiyadasan (Tamil Nadu) 10.48; 3. Harjit Singh (Punjab) 10.55.

400m: 1. Amoj Jacob (Delhi) 45.68 seconds; 2. Noah Nirmal Tom (Kerala) 46.44; 3. Muhammed Ajmal (Kerala) 46.58.

1500m: 1. Harendra Kumar (Delhi) 3:44.26; 2. Ajay Kumar Saroj (Uttar Pradesh) 3:44.60; 3. Parvej Khan (Madhya Pradesh) 3:45.15.

Pole Vault: 1. S Siva (Tamil Nadu) 5.00m; 2. A Gnana Sone (Tamil Nadu) and Sunil (Haryana) 4.60.

Long Jump: 1. M Sreeshankar (Kerala) 8.23m (New meet record. Old: 8.01, M Sreeshankhar, Chennai, 2022); 2. Muhammed Anees Yahiya (Uttar Pradesh) 8.15m; 3. Swaminathan (Tamil Nadu) 7.89.

Javelin Throw: 1. Manu DP (Karnataka) 84.35m (New Meet Record. Old: 82.28, Shivpal Singh, Guwahati, 2018); 2. Rohit Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) 82.54; Yashvir Singh (Rajasthan) 78.62.

Decathlon: 1. Yaman Deep Sharma (Rajasthan) 6948 points (100m: 11.55; LJ: 6.87; SP: 10.10; HJ: 1.98; 400m: 49.96; 110mH: 15.65; DT: 33.26; PV: 4.50; JT: 47.81; 1500m: 4:34.96); 2. Umesh Lamba (Rajasthan) 6719; 3. SG Sreedhu (Tamil Nadu) 6657.

Women

100m: 1. Hima Das (Assam) 11.43 seconds; 2. Dutee Chand (Odisha) 11.44; 3. Srabani Nanda (Odisha) 11.53.

400m: 1. Kiran Pahal (Haryana) 52.47 seconds; 2. Rupal Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh) 52.72; 3. R Vithya Ramaraj (Tamil Nadu) 53.78.

1500m: 1. Chanda (Delhi) 4:13.85; 2. Shraddha Rajan Kathiriya (Gujarat) 4;14.54; 3. Ankita Dhyani (Uttarakhand) 4:17.80.

Shot Put: 1. Manpreet Kaur (Haryana) 18.06m (New National & Meet Record. Old NR: 17.96, Manpreet Kaur, Kolkata, 2015; Old MR: 16.98, Harbans Kaur, Kolkata, 1998); 2. Kiran Baliyan (Uttar Pradesh) 16.84; 3. Abha Khatua (Maharashtra) 16.69.