Renjith wins triple jump gold; Railways retain title

Nursing a sore back, Renjith Maheshwary, representing Railways, leapt to a gold winning effort of 16.09 metres in men’s triple jump on the fourth and final day of the 54th National Open Athletics Championships at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Wednesday. 

The Railways Sports Promotion Board emerged the overall champions with 315 points followed by Services Sports Control Board (166) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (117).

Ankit Sharma, who equalled the meet record in long jump, was adjudged the best athlete in the men’s section while 800M runner Tintu Luka, who picked two gold medals here, won the best woman athlete award.

Renjith, who was limping a bit on his way to the podium, said his season was plagued by the back injury. “It forced me to compete in fewer competitions this year," he said. "I am still nursing a back injury but had to participate in the event for Railways. I will soon be going for a full ayurvedic rehab programme in Kerala.”

Renjith’s pole vaulter wife VS Surekha had also won gold on Tuesday by bettering her own national record with the mark of 4.15 metres. 

“She can do better and touch 4.25 metres,” he said.

In the other events, the Incheon Asian Games bronze medallist OP Jaisha won the women's 1500 metres race by clocking 4:17.80. 

She had also won gold in the 5000M on the first day of the championship. 

Preeja Sreedharan, representing Railways in women 10,000 metre run, was upstaged by her colleague L Surya who tipped her in the last lap to take the gold with the effort of 33:56.05. 

Preeja, who has the national record to her name at 31:40.47, clocked 34:03:19 to come second. 

Swati Gadhawe, also of Railways, came third with a timing of 35:35.22.

In the women 4x100M relay, Railways quartet of Mandeep Kaur, Merlin K Joseph, Anchu MM and Sharada N took gold with 46.73 seconds while Karnataka, comprising Pragna S Prakash, Praneetha Pradeep, Padmini MG and Arpitha M came second with the timing of 47.81.  Both Delhi and LIC, the remaining teams, exchanged their baton outside the zone to be disqualified.



Results: Men: 200M: Manikanda Arumugam (RSPB) 20.98, 1; Dharmbir (Har) 21.06, 2; 3. Manikandan Raj (RSPB) 21.61, 3. 1500M: Ajay Kumar Saroj (ONGC) 3:48.53, 1; 2. Jinson Johnson (SSCB) 3:49.05, 2; Ghamanda Ram (ONGC) 3:49.10, 3. 10000M: Gopi T (SSCB) 29:32.26, 1; Kheta Ram (SSCB) 29:32.75, 2; Suresh Kumar (ONGC) 29:32.96, 3. 400M hurdles: Durgesh Kumar Pal (SSCB) 50.61, 1; Ramachandran (SSCB) 51.03, 2; Jithin Paul (RSPB) 51.30, 3. Triple jump: Renjith Maheswari (RSPB) 16.09M, 1; U. Karthik (SSCB) 15.95M, 2; Arpinder Singh (ONGC) 15.89M, 3. Hammer throw: Niraj Kumar (SSCB) 68.86M, 1; Pargat Singh (RSPB) 64.46M, 2; Kaushal Singh (SSCB) 62.36M, 3. 4x100M relay: Railways A (Sathyaseelan A., Arunjith, Manikandan Raj, Manikanda Arumugam) 40.77, 1; Services A (Sunil Kumar, Vidya Sagar, Yesu Raj, Jyoti Shankar) 40.79, 2; Punjab A (Inderjit Singh, Amandeep Singh, Karandeep Singh, Meva Singh) 41.87, 3.

4x400M relay: Services A (Kunhu Mohammed, Jibin Sebastian, Jithu Baby, Arokia Rajiv) 3:10.26, 1; Railways A (Jithin Paul, Vishamber Kolekar, Neeraj Pawar, Bibin Mathew) 3:10.81, 2; Kerala A (Manu Kuriakose Zach, Ajith CM, Binu Jose, Sugina M) 3:11.78,3.Women: 200M: Asha Roy (RSPB) 24.46 seconds, 1; V Santhin (LIC) 24.56, 2; Srabani Nanda (RSPB) 24.59, 3. 1500M: OP Jaisha (RSPB) 4:17.80, 1; Sini Ajith Markose (ONGC) 4:21.89, 2; Sakshi (ONGC) 4:22.15, 3. 10000M: L Surya (RSPB) 33:56.05, 1; Preeja Sreedharan (RSPB) 34:03.19, 2; Swati Gadhawe (RSPB) 35:35.22, 3. 400M hurdles: Arpitha M (KAR) 59.82, 1; Jauna Murmu (ONGC) 1:00.25, 2; Monika Singh (UP) 1:03.47, 3. Triple jump: Sheena NV (KER) 12.99M, 1; Amitha Baby (RSPB) 12.87M, 2; Bhairabi Roy(WB) 12.81M,3. Discus throw: Navjeet Kaur Dhillon (ONGC) 55.33M,1; Praveen Kumari (RAJ) 49.90M, 2; Sandeep Kumari (RSPB) 48.8M, 3. Heptathlon: Liksy Joseph (MP) 5444, 1; Purnima Hamram (RSPB) 5298, 2; Swapna Barman (WB) 5073, 3. 4x100M relay: Railways A (Mandeep Kaur, Merlin K. Joseph, Anchu MM, Sharada N) 46.73, 1; Karnataka A (Pragna S Prakash, Praneetha Pradeep, Padmini MG, Arpitha M) 47.81, 2. 4x400M relay: Railways A (Sonal Chawla, Sinsha K, Priyanka Mondal, Tintu Luka) 3:47.77, 1; ONGC A (Jauna Murmu, Sini Markose, Sakshi, MR Poovamma) 3:49.93, 2; Kerala A (Sugina M, Alga Winny James, Sindhu KD, Jessy Joseph) 3:56.40, 3.