25th National Federation Cup Athletics Competition: Punjab’s discus thrower Kirpal Singh wins Asian Games ticket

Punjab’s Kirpal Singh etched his name in the record books on Tuesday. He set a new men’s discus throw meet record on the penultimate day of the 25th National Federation Cup Athletics Competition, in Kozhikode.

Kirpal Singh hurled the discus to a distance of 61.83m. This was better than the previous meeting record of 59.55m set by Anil Kumar in 2000. This has booked a place for him at the 2022 Asian Games, set to take place in Hangzhou, China.

It was a good comeback for the Punjab thrower. He has dodged injuries and doping suspensions in the past to better the Hangzhou Asian Games qualifying mark of 59.50m. The national record of 66.28m stands in the name of US-based Vikas Gowda, who established it in 2012.

Kirpal Singh was steady in the competition and started his gold-medal campaign with a throw of 59.64m. His fourth attempt of 61.83m fetched him a new meet record.

However, depth in the men’s discus throw event was missing. Haryana’s Prashant Kumar came second with a throw of 54.11m. Amit Kumar of Rajasthan gained the third position but was eight meters behind the leader with a throw of 52.95m.

The women’s discus throw gold went to veteran Seema Punia, who recorded a throw of 54.83m. National record holder Kamalpreet Kaur pulled out of the competition due to a knee injury.

Field events at the National Federation Cup Athletics Competition

In the men’s 800m race, India’s 2018 Jakarta Asian Games champion Manjeet Singh came a disappointing sixth. Haryana’s Krishan Kumar sprinted home to win gold with a personal best of 1:47:43 seconds.

Kerala’s Mohammed Afsal took home a silver with a time of 1:47:45. Uttarakhand’s 20-year-old Anu Kumar grabbed the bronze with a personal best of 1:47:75. But Kumar wasn't happy with his performance. He explained why he came third after the event.

“I sprinted for home quite late, which cost me gold medal."

Delhi’s Chanda won the women’s 800m title with a time of 2:02:11. The 2018 Asian Games champion Swapna Barman won the heptathlon title with a total score of 5800 points.