Mayookha Johny’s gold medal in long jump provided a silver lining on an otherwise gloomy day, as she clinched a qualification berth for the Commonwealth Games in the 54th National inter-State athletics championship at the PAC Stadium here on Thursday.
On a day when national record-holder Kumaravel Premkumar failed to qualify for the final in men’s long jump, following a below par 7.0m, Mayookha thrived on a cooler evening.
She jumped 6.56 on her third attempt in the final, and had five other jumps that ranged from 6.33 to 6.48. It was commendable that she was able to push herself past the qualification mark of 6.44m, despite lack of competition at the pit.
The silver medal went to V. Neena, while M.A. Prajusha (5.99m) missed a medal by seven cm to Shraddha Guley.
The talk of the day was, of course, Premkumar faring much below his level. For someone who holds the record of 8.09m against his name, it was a disappointment even considering the bout of chicken pox he suffered recently.
The long flight from his training base in the US, not to forget the energy-sapping conditions, took a combined toll on the Tamil Nadu lad. For a jumper of his class, it was no consolation that Premkumar missed qualification for the final by two cm while the top 12 made the cut, with topper Vigneshvar of Tamil Nadu jumping 7.44m.
It was another matter that the CWG qualification mark of 8m was beyond the reach of everyone, including Premkumar, considering the overall condition of his training.
Meanwhile, despite the relatively cooler conditions in the morning, results in the 5000m were far from inspiring. O.P. Jaisha did not face much competition in bettering the meet mark set by Sunita Rani in 1998. Jaisha’s time of 15 min, 57.05s was far from the qualifying mark (15:40.30) for CWG.
National record-holder Preeja Sreedharan opted to skip the event.
The results: Men: 5000m: 1. Indrajeet Patel 14:02.84, 2. Rahul Kumar 14:06.72, 3. Nitender Singh 14:09.54; Pole vault: 1. Kundan 4.96; 2. Krishna Prasad 4.70; 3. K.P. Bimin 4.70.
Women: 5000m: 1. O.P. Jaisha 15:57.05 ( NMR , old: 15:59.06), 2. Suriya 16:24.26, 3. Kavita Tungar 16:44.96; Long jump: 1. Mayookha Johny 6.56, 2. V. Neena 6.23, 3. Shraddha Guley 6.07; Shot put: 1. Manpreet Kaur 15.93; 2. Manpreet Kaur 14.77; 3. Saraswathy 12.73.
