Long jumper Prem Kumar, who replaced Manikanda Arumugam in the line-up, ensured the gold for Tamil Nadu in the 4x400m relay in the 55th Senior National athletics meet at the Nehru Stadium here on Sunday.
“He’s (Prem) been our go-to man in times of crisis,” said Tamil Nadu coach Md. Riaz.
On another mediocre day of action, Manisha Salunkhe of Maharashtra hogged the limelight to achieve her personal best in the women’s 3000m steeplechase and winning the gold, clocking 10:55.34.
Replacing Arumugam with Prem in the first baton turned out to be a masterstroke as the 22-year-old, who is basically an established long jumper, did a wonderful job.
If Prem gave the host a decent start, it was Vijayakumar who provided the lead taking the second baton.
Finally, it was left to Praveen Muthukumaran to finish the job after Sathiyaseelan had done his part.
Kerala finished second ahead of Haryana.
“He (Prem) has been our substitute fielder (so to say). Manikanda(Arumugam) met with an accident a few days back, and I chose Prem who has bailed us out in similar situations,” added Riaz.
In the absence of established stars such as Sudha Singh and Lalita Babar, Manisha was out to prove a point.
Except for the second lap, when she surrendered the lead briefly to Monika Fulchand Raut, Manisha was always ahead and extended it into the fifth lap to emerge a comfortable winner ahead of Nandini Gupta and Monika Fulchand Raut.
Her previous best was 11:05.38s in the National Inter-State meet in Chennai in June ’13.
National and meet record holder Annu Rani of Uttar Pradesh won the gold in the women’s javelin with an effort of 54.67 but it was disappointment for her with the qualifying mark for the Worlds being 61.00s.
The results:
Men: 20 km walk: 1. Devender Singh (Har) 1:26:04.40, 2. Ganapathy (TN) 1:27:06.40, 3. Babubhai Panocha (Guj) 1:28:00.30; 3000m Steeplechase: 1. Naveen (Har) 8:47.47s, 2. Jaiveer (Har) 8:48.23, 3. Sachin Patil (Mah) 8:52.61; high jump: 1. S. Harshith (Kar) 2.16m, 2. Jagdeep Singh (Pun) 2.16m, 3. Ajay Kumar (Har) 2.09m.
4x100m relay: TN (K. Prem Kumar, M. Vijayakumar, Sathiyaselan, V. Muthu Kumaran) 40.83s, 2. Kerala (Dibin Eldhose, Jinesh, Sujith Kuttan, Jithesh Kumar) 40.89, 3. Harayana (Rajender, Vijay Sumit Malik, Dharmbir Singh) 41.08.
Women: 3000m Steeplechase: 1. Manisha Salunkhe (Mah) 10:55.34s, 2. Nandini Gupta (UP) 11:07.09, 3. Monika Fulchand Raut (Mah) 11:09.24; pole vault: 1. Kiranbir Kaur (Pun) 3.50m, 2. K.C. Dija (Mah) 3.40, 3. Krishna Rachan (Ker) 3.40; discus: 1. Arjun (Har) 57.14m, 2. Dharmraj Yadav (UP) 56.15, 3. Kirpal Singh (Pun) 53.83; javelin: 1. Annu Rani (UP) 54.67m, 2. Pushpa Jakhar (Har) 49.69, 3. Shahejhali (Kar) 48.72; triple jump: 1. M.A. Prajusha (Ker) 13.33m, 2. Amita Baby (Cht) 12.92, 3. Bhairabi Roy (WB) 12.79.
4x100m relay: 1. Odisha (Purnima Hembram, Jauna Murmu, Srabani Nanda, Dutee Chand) 46.20, 2. Kerala (K. Manju, Arya Nath, M. Sugina, Sini Alex) 47.47; 3. Maharashtra (Ankita Gosavi, S. Bhaskar Ghule, D. Prabhakar Kotiy, R. Patil) 47.57.
