National Interstate Athletics Championships: Praveen Chitravel wins triple jump gold and ticket to Commonwealth Games

For the second consecutive day at the National Interstate Athletics Championships in Chennai, elite triple jumpers dominate the competition. On Monday, B Aishwarya of Tamil Nadu improved the women’s national record as she leapt to a distance of 14.14m.

On Tuesday, the men’s triple jump event turned out to be the most exciting athletics event as three leading contenders breached the Birmingham Commonwealth Games mark of 16.56m.

The day's honour, however, went to Praveen Chitravel of Tamil Nadu whose efforts of 17.18m was better than the meeting record of 17.17m set by Arpinder Singh in 2014.

Close on Chitravel’s heel was Kerala’s Abdulla Abookacker, who won silver with an effort of 17.14m. Eldhouse Paul, also from Kerala, settled for bronze with a jump of 16.81m in this athletics event.

The focus of the day was also on the women’s long jump competition after B Aishwarya of Karnataka caused a flutter in the qualifying round with a leap of 6.73m.

On Tuesday, despite having a series of five foul jumps, her one legal jump was 6.60m, which fetched her gold. World U20 silver medalist Shaili Singh of Uttar Pradesh was fourth with a jump of 6.26m.

Rajasthan’s Manju Bala also booked a ticket for the Commonwealth Games in the women’s hammer throw. Her gold-winning effort of 64.19m was better than the Commonwealth Games qualification mark of 64m.

National Interstate Athletics Championships: Track events

Away from the field events, Assam’s promising sprinter Amlan Borgohain scored a double by winning men’s 200m title on the final day of the Championships.

However, Borgohain, who holds the national 200m record, couldn't achieve the Commonwealth Games qualification time of 20.15 seconds. He clocked 21 seconds for gold.

In the women’s 200m race, Dhana Lakshmi spoiled Hima Das's party as she pipped her on the tape to win gold in 23.27 seconds. Hima won silver with a time of 23.29 seconds, while Aishwarya Mishra of Maharashtra took home bronze with 23.72 seconds. Priya Mohan of Karnataka, one of the favourites, finished fifth with 24.01 seconds.

However, it was a disappointing day for Kerala's MP Jabir as he narrowly missed the 400m hurdles qualifying time of 49.16 seconds. He clocked 49.76 seconds to win gold.

In the morning session, gold medal winners in the men and women’s 5000m race weren’t able to qualify for the Commonwealth Games.

National Interstate Athletics Championships: Results (All finals):

Men's athletics events

200m: 1. Amlan Borgohain (Assam) 21.00 seconds; 2. Abhin B Devadiga (Karnataka) 21.42; 3. Rahul Ramesh Kadam (Maharashtra) 21.68.

5000m: 1. Harendra Kumar (Delhi) 14:01.50; 2. Amit Jangir (Rajasthan) 14:02.01; 3. Dharmender (Rajasthan) 14:02.13

400m Hurdles: 1. MP Jabir (Kerala) 49.76 seconds; 2. T Santhosh Kumar (Tamil Nadu) 50.16; 3. Dhaval Mahesh Uttekar (Gujarat) 50.55.

Triple Jump: 1. Praveen Chitravel (Tamil Nadu) 17.18m (New Meet Record. Old: 17.17, Arpinder Singh, Lucknow, 2014); 2. Abdulla Aboobacker (Kerala) 17.14; 3. Eldhose Paul (Kerala) 16.81.

Hammer Throw: 1. Neeraj Kumar (Rajasthan) 65.52m; 2. Harvendra Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 64.97; 3. Damneet Singh (Punjab) 63.15.

4x400m relay (combining races A & B): 1. India A (Muhammed Ajmal, Mijo Chacko Kurain, Naganathan Pandi and S Arokia Rajiv) 3:05.34 (New Meet Record. Old: 3:09.29, Kerala, Chennai, 2006); 2. Sri Lanka 3:06.05; 3. Karnataka 3:13.86.

Women's athletics events

200m: 1. S Dhanalakshmi (Tamil Nadu) 23.27 seconds; 2. Hima Das (Assam) 23.29; 3. Aishwarya Kailash Mishra (Maharashtra) 23.72.

5000m: 1. Sanjivani Baburao Jadhav (Maharashtra) 16:11.46; 2. Shraddha Rajani Karthiriya (Gujarat) 16:14.04; 3. Seema (Himachal Pradesh) 16;25.47.

400m Hurdles: 1. R Vithya Ramaraj (Tamil Nadu) 57.08 seconds; 2. Anu Raghavan (Kerala) 58.99; 3. Arathi R (Kerala) 59.26

Long Jump: 1. B Aishwarya (Karnataka) 6.60m; 2. Ancy Sojan (Kerala) 6.49; 3. L Sruthilekshmi (Kerala) 6.35.

Hammer Throw: 1. Manju Bala Simgh Singh (Rajasthan) 64.19m (New Meet Record. Old: 63.28, Sarita Romit Singh, Guwahati, 2018); 2. Sarita Romit Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 62.20; 3. Renu (Haryana) 59.83.

4x400m relay: 1. Haryana (Summy, Nisha, Bhateri and Simmy) 3:41.90; 2. Tamil Nadu 3:42.39; 3. Kerala 3:42.92.