Mangalore University tallied 178 points for the overall title in the 77th all-India inter-university athletics meet for men and women at the Nehru Stadium here on Sunday.
The solid performance of its men, who enjoyed the lion’s share (125) in the points table, helped Mangalore regain the crown, which it last won in 2015.
Rio Olympian Mohan Kumar, who came up with a mesmerising record run in the men’s 400m the other day, stunned the crowd yet again with a couple of scorching runs in both the 200m and the 4x400m.
Official blunder
The B.A. Economics student from D.G. Vaishnav College (Chennai) had his eyes firmly set on former international Anand Natarajan’s 26-year-old ‘hand-timed’ 200m record of 21.3s. He was slow of the blocks, but gathered pace midway to finish in style. It looked a certain record, but an official blunder robbed him of a place in the record books.
It was said that the starter had failed to carry the sensor which ultimately led to the non-functioning of the photo-finish system that all the other events enjoyed. Even otherwise, Kumar had stopped the ‘manual’ clock at 20.99s.
The officials knew it but, after an agonising wait of nearly half-an-hour, the announcement came that he had equalled the meet record with a time of 21.3.
Kumar was clearly disappointed and, the crowd too. Natarajan, who was part of the meet, knew that as well. He showered praises and rewarded Kumar with a cash award of ₹50,000.
Later, Kumar anchored the Madras University team to a new record in the men’s 4x400m.
The results:
Men: 200m: Mohan Kumar (Madras) 21.3 (EMR); 2. M. Velladurai Pandian (Kakatiya); 3. A. Vignesh (Bharathidasan). 110m hurdles: 1. Maymon Paulose (Calicut) 14.36s; 2. T. Santhosh Kumar (Bharathidasan); 3. Mohamad Nisan (Anna, Chennai).
400m hurdles: 1. Dharun (Mangalore) 50.81 (NMR, OMR: ); 2. T. Santhosh Kumar (Bharathidasan) 51.26 (NMR); 3. Nikhil Bharadwaj (Punjabi, Patiala). 1500m: 1. Singh Mangeeth Sirta (Mangalore) 3:54.45s; 2. Shashi Bhushan Singh (Calcutta); 3. Dinesh Lathwal (Panjab, Chandigarh).
Half-marathon: 1. Ranjith Kumar Patel (Mangalore) 1:06.37.00; 2. K.K. Devram (Mangalore); 3. Shein Jose (MG, Kottayam).
10,000m: 1. Tadvikisan (Savitribai) 30:57.66s; 2. R.K. Patel (Mangalore); 3. Vasudev Nishad (DDU, Gorhakhpur). 20,000m walk: 1. Kuldeep (Mangalore) 1:33:01.32; 2. Bhagwan (H.N.B. Agarwal); 3. R. Saravana Kumar (Bharathiar). Long jump: 1. Sirajuddheen (Mangalore) 7.44m; 2. Siddharth Mohan Naik (Mangalore); 3. Mohammed Anees (Calciut). Triple jump: 1. Sreejith Mon (Mangalore) 16.05m (NMR); 2. Karthik Basagondappa (Mangalore); 3. Vikrant Mor (MD, Rohtak).
4x400m: 1. University of Madras (Manu Kuriakose, Aakash Babu, Gokula Kannan, Mohan Kumar) 3:10.82s (NMR); 2. Panjabi, Chandigarh 3:12.65 (NMR); 3. University of Kerala 3:12.81 (NMR). Discus: 1. Jagtar Singh (Guru Nanak) 51.69m; 2. Sachin (MD, Rohtak); 3. Lakvinder Singh (Mangalore).
Women: 200m: 1. Archana (Madras) 24.33; 2. Anwesha Roya Prodhan (North Bengal); 3. A. Chandraleka (Bharathidasan). 100m hurdles: 1. M. Suguna (Calicut) 14.05s; Dibi Sebastian (MG, Kottayam); 3. Keerthana (Madras). 2. 400m hurdles: 1. Anu (Mangalore) 1:00.32; 2. Vishwa Priya (Madras); 3. Gayakwad Saraitaben (VNSG). 1500m: 1. Harmilan Bains (Punjabi, Patiala) 4:33.12s; 2. Chitra (Calicut); 3. S.R. Dalsinga (Mangalore). 5000m walk: 1. K.T. Neena (Calicut) 23:13.30s; 2. Priyanka (Punjabi, Patiala); 3. Mary Margaret (MG, Kottayam). Half-marathon: 1. C.J. Jagabaga (Mangalore) 1:17:05.00; 2. Thara (Calicut); 3. Babita Nishad (DDU Gorakhpur). 4x400m: 1. MG, Kottayam 3:43.00s; 2. Punjabi, Patiala; 3. University of Calicut. Javelin: 1. Poonam Rani (Chaudhary Devi Lal) 51.96; 2. Pushpa Jakhar (Rohtak); 3. Abha Khatua (Vidyasagar). Hammer: 1. Kavita (Punjabi, Patiala) 52.55m; 2. Jyoti (MPJ); 3. Laxay Sharma (Delhi). Heptathlon: 1. Sowmiya (Madras) 4901pts; 2. Nayana James (University of Kerala); 3. Mareen George.
Overall championship: 1. Mangalore 178 pts; 2. MG, Kottayam 114; 3. Punjabi, Patiala 112.
Men: 1. Mangalore 125; 2. Punjabi, Patiala 60; 3. University of Madras 49.
Women: 1. MG, Kottayam 84; 2. Punjabi 62; 3. Mangalore 53.
Best athletes:Men: Dharun (Madras) 1090 pts; 2. Sanjivini Jadhav (Savitribai Phule).
