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The Thiruvananthapuram Indian Grand Prix proved to be a good platform for several athletes who managed to achieve the Asian Games qualification mark on Monday. Despite poor attendance in the one-day IGP, which is the season’s first track competition, top athletes showcased their skills on the track as well in the field events.
Haryana’s Krishan Kumar posted a time of 1:47.26 in the men’s 800m race to better the Asian Games qualification time of 1:49.05.
The men’s 5,000m race was dominated by Uttar Pradesh runners. All three medal winners dipped below the Asian Games qualification standard set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). However, it was Abhishek Pal who clinched the gold medal in a sprint finish with a time of 13:51.14 seconds to breach the qualification time of 14 minutes.
Gulveer Singh and Mohammed Nur Hasan finished second and third respectively. The duo also dipped below the Asian Games qualification mark of 14 minutes. While Singh clocked 13:51.88, Hasan crossed the finish line in 13:52.26.
India’s sprint sensation Hima Das also showed early form and cruised to a comfortable win in the women’s 200m.
Away from the track, it was Kerala’s long jumper Ancy Sojan, who stole the show. She won the long jump event with an effort of 6.49m, which was better than the Asian Games qualification of 6.45m.
India’s leading throwers, including Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, were conspicuous by their absence. However, Odisha’s thrower Kishore Kumar Jena made the most of the chances to break the 80m barrier and record a personal best of 81.05m. Army’s international thrower DP Manu finished second with a throw of 80.61m.
Manu coach Kashinath Naik was satisfied with his trainee’s performance saying it was Manu’s first competition of the season and it was a good start.
“The challenging 2023 season is long and has several important competitions in the latter half of the year. So, we decided to take it easy in a couple of competitions in March and April,” Naik told Sportskeeda over the phone.
Athletes from the Maldives also competed in the one-day competition in Kerala.
