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Haryana’s Ayush Dabas lived up to his expectations at the National Open 400m Championships winning men’s 400m title here at the eight-lane warmup track at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Tuesday.
Running in lane three, Ayush ran a steady pace for the opening 200m, but shifted into top gear on the home stretch to cross the finish line in 46.86 seconds.
Ayush’s Tuesday performance was shy of his personal best of 46.58 seconds clocked a fortnight ago during the National U23 Athletics Championships here at the same track. Running back to back sub 47 seconds for the quarter-mile race hints that the Haryana sprinter has been enjoying good form at the fag-end of the season.
Vandana Sharma and Abrar Choudhary were surprise winners at the National Open 400m Championships
The women’s 400m final saw Delhi’s pre-race favorite Pooja tumbling on the home stretch that evaporated her chances of a podium finish. Uttar Pradesh’s Vandana Sharma won gold with a time of 55.01 seconds.
Abrar Choudhary of Jammu and Kashmir was a surprise winner in the under-20 boys’ section at the National Open 400m Championships. The lanky runner won the gold medal with a time of 48.56 seconds in the 400m final.
Since there are no training facilities in Jammu and Kashmir, said Abrar, he shifted to Rohtak in Haryana for practice.
“I had to shift to Haryana last year because there are no training facilities back home in Jammu and Kashmir,” said Abrar.
The women’s under-20 girls’ gold medal at the National Open 400m Championships went to Kunia Rajitha of Andhra Pradesh. Her gold medal winning time was 56.19 seconds.
Only four athletes reported for the U20 girls’ final as others failed to furnish proof of their date of birth, said an official familiar with the development.
Rajasthan’s Rajul Githala was the winner of the gold medal in the under-18 boys’ group with a time of 48.33 seconds at the National Open 400m Championships.
The girls’ under-18 title at the National Open 400m Championships went to Rupal of Uttar Pradesh. It was a start-to-end affair for the Uttar Pradesh sprinter. Her gold medal winning time was 53.73 seconds. Rupal dominated the race and finished nearly four seconds ahead of second runner PR Neeharika of Tamil Nadu, who won silver with a time of 58.07 seconds.
In the other events at the National Open 400m Championships, Karnataka’s Rihan CH won the under-16 boys’ title with a time of 49.02 seconds, and Kanista Teena M of Tamil Nadu walked away with the under-16 girls’ gold medal with a time of 57.41 seconds.
