National Athletics: Dev Meena Achieves New Heights, Rupal Chaudhary Claims 400m Gold

Kochi (Kerala), April 22 (NationPress) Emerging pole vault star, Dev Meena from Madhya Pradesh, captured attention with an outstanding performance, establishing a new national record during the 28th National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships held here on Tuesday. The second day of the event brought joy to several athletes who successfully met the qualification standards for the Asian Athletics Championships at Maharaja’s College Stadium.

Meena raised his national record by clearing a height of 5.35m, yet fell short of the Asian qualification target of 5.51m. His previous record of 5.32m was achieved at the 38th Uttarakhand National Games in Dehradun.

Feeling slightly disappointed for not reaching the Asian qualification height, Meena expressed his overall contentment with his performance. “I aimed to push myself further, but the light rain influenced my decision to stop, as advised by my coach,” Meena shared, according to the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).

The competition in the women’s 400m was fiercely contested.

Rupal Chaudhary, a top contender, conserved her energy for the final stretch while Tamil Nadu’s Asian Games medallist, Vithya Ramraj, who led for the first 300m, couldn’t maintain her pace in the last 100m and fell just short against Rupal at the finish line. Rupal’s winning time of 52.55 seconds was well below the Asian qualifying mark of 53.80 seconds.

Rupal credited a quick decision for her victory. “I was determined to accelerate as the first 200m felt sluggish,” Rupal remarked after securing the gold medal. “I’m thrilled to have emerged victorious.”

Vithya acknowledged her struggle with the fast pace during the initial 300m. “I lacked the energy to push ahead and had to accept second place,” Vithya admitted.

The top six finishers in the women’s 400m all surpassed the Asian qualification time of 53.80 seconds.

Jyothi Yarraji, an Asian Games medallist and India’s top female hurdler, also expressed her happiness in winning the 100m hurdles with a time of 13.23 seconds, surpassing the Asian qualification time of 13.26 seconds. Jyothi, who had strained her right hamstring three weeks ago, noted, “Kochi was my only chance to qualify for the Asian meet, so I had to compete.”

Results:

Men:

400m (Asian Q time 45.36 seconds): Vishal TK (Tamil Nadu) 46.19 seconds, Jay Kumar (Delhi) 46.33 seconds, Manu TS (Kerala) 46.39 seconds.

Pole vault (Asian Q mark 5.51m): Dev Meena (Madhya Pradesh) 5.35m (NR. Previous record 5.30m), M Gowtham (Tamil Nadu) 5.15m, Reegan G (Tamil Nadu) 5.10m.

Discus throw (Asian Q mark 59.63m): Nirbhay Singh (Haryana) 58.13m, Abhimanyu (JSW) 55.11m, Bhartpreet Singh (Reliance) 53.79m

High jump (Asian Q mark 2.23m): Sarvesh Anil Kushare (Maharashtra) 2.26m, Swadhin Kumar Majhi (Odisha) 2.14m, Bharath Raj B (Kerala) 2.14m.

Long jump (Asian Q mark 8.07m): David P (Tamil Nadu) 7:94m, Jeswin Aldrin (Reliance) 7.83m, Muhammed Anees (Reliance) 7.70m.

110m hurdles (Asian Q time 13.56 seconds): Tejas Ashok Shirse (Maharashtra) 13.65 seconds, Manav R (Railway Sports) 13.94 seconds, Muhammed Lazan VK (JSW) 14.17 seconds.

Women

400m (Asian Q time 53.80 seconds): Rupal Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh) 52.55 seconds, Vithya Ramraj (Tamil Nadu) 52.81 seconds, Sneha K (Kerala) 53.00 seconds.

100m hurdles (Asian Q time 13.26 seconds) Jyothi Yarraji (Reliance) 13.23 seconds, Pragyan Prasanti (Odisha) 13.40 seconds, Nithya Ramraj (Tamil Nadu) 13.42 seconds.

Discus throw (Asian Q mark 54.19m): Seema (JSW) 57.17m, Bhavana Yadav (Delhi) 52.15m, Priya (Haryana) 51.36m.

Heptathlon: Agasara Nandini (Telangana) 5813 points, Pooja (Haryana) 5401 points, Moumita Mondal (Reliance) 5373 points.