It was another great day for the host Kerala as the inimitable Tintu Luka led the way with an impressive show of strength as the athletic events of the 35th National Games concluded at the University stadium here on Friday.
Also in focus was the well-built and lanky Dharambir as he dashed off with a sprint double, taking the 200m gold medal with a lot to spare and a new meet record to boot.
The Haryana athlete, who had won the 100m on Wednesday, was firmly in control of the race with his steady running and acceleration as he came off the bend and hit the home stretch.
Dharambir stopped the clock at 20.12s to erase the existing meet mark of 21.20 set by Ajay Raj Singh in 2001. Manikanda Arumugam (Tamil Nadu) and Amiya Kumar Mallick (Odisha) followed at 20.53s and 20.57s.
Sajeesh Joseph gave Kerala an expected gold medal as he waited until the final homestretch before sprinting to a glorious finish in the 800m ahead of Jinson Johnson (Services) and team-mate P. Mohammed Afsal at 1:53.69. The 4x400m relay proved to be an exciting affair as Tamil Nadu edged out Kerala and Maharashtra in a close finish at 3:11.26.
Tintu, the absolute favourite in the women’s 800m, did not let down the packed house as she ran a controlled race and took the gold medal in 2:01.86 bettering the old meet mark of 2:03.08 set by K.C. Rosakutty in 1997.
Dutee Chand, however, was denied a sprint double by Kerala’s V. Santhini and Merlin K. Joseph who finished 1-2 and pushed the Odisha girl to the third spot.
The home team was also benefitted by a clean sweep in triple jump as N.V. Sheena, Amitha Baby and M.A. Prajusha finished in that order. It was the only second such instance in the meet, following Services which grabbed all the three medals at stake in the men’s 10,000m on Thursday.
Lalita Babar (Maharashtra) was another impressive performer of the day as she won the women’s 3000m steeplechase with a new Games record. The National record holder in the event, who got into the lead almost straightaway, stayed up-front right through the race and despite there being no challenge of any sort still completed the nine-and-a-half-lap race in 9:42.63 as against the existing mark of 10:40.81.
Kerala also took the women’s 4x400m relay without any difficulty ahead of Karnataka and Haryana, to finish its engagements with a haul of 13 gold, 14 silver and 7 bronze medals.
The results: Men: 200m: 1. Dharambir (Har) 21.12s - New Meet Record; Old Record - 21.20s, 2. Manikanda Armugam (TN) 21.53s, 3. Amiya Kumar Mallick (Odi) 21.57s.
800m: 1. Sajeesh Joseph (Ker) 1:53.68, 2. Jinson Johnson (Ser) 1:53.88, 3. P. Mohammed Afsal (Ker) 1:54.08.
3,000m steeplechase: 1. Naveen Kumar (Ser) 8:52.54, 2. Jaiveer Singh (Ser) 8:54.67, 3. Sachin Patil (Mah) 9:00.27.
Pole vault: 1. Kundan (Ser) 5.00m, 2. K.P. Bimin (Ker) 4.95m, 3. P. Balakrishna (Kar) 4.90m.
4x400m relay: 1. Tamil Nadu 3:11.26, 2. Kerala 3:11.63, 3. Maharashtra 3:12:91.
Women: 200m: 1. V. Santhini (Ker) 24.11s, 2. Anilda Thomas (Ker) 24.27s, 3. Dutee Chand (Odi) 24.56s.
800m: 1. Tintu Luka (Ker) 2:01.86 - NMR; OR - 2:03.08, 2. Gomathi (TN) 2:05.09, 3. Sini A. Markose (Ker) 2:06.37.
3,000m steeplechase: 1. Lalita Babar (Mah) 9:42.63 - NMR; OR - 10:40.81, 2. Sudha Singh (UP) 10:04.30, 3. Jayshree Borgi (Mah) 10:28.44.
Triple jump: 1. N.V. Sheena (Ker) 13.27m, 2. Amitha Baby (Ker) 13.11m, 3. M.A. Prajusha (Ker) 13.04m.
Discus: 1. Navjit Kaur (Pun) 50.52m, 2. Sandeep Kumari (Har) 46.92m, 3. Praveen Kumari (Raj) 46.16m.
Heptathlon: 1. Swapna Barman (Ben) 5288 points, 2. Liksy Joseph (Ker) 5263, 3. Niksy Joseph (Ker) 5055.
4x400m relay: 1. Kerala 3:42.66, 2. Karnataka 3:43.83, 3. Haryana 3:45.54.
