JOIN USM R Poovamma edged a fighting Jisna Mathew in a tight finish to win the women’s 400M gold in the second Indian Grand Prix athletics meet here on Thursday.
Karnataka’s Poovamma timed 52.66 seconds, finishing one-hundredths of a second better than Jisna, in what was the highlight of the day’s events. It was her season’s best timing for Poovamma while Jisna ducked under the 53-second barrier for the first time in her young career.
Javelin throw continued to be in spotlight thanks to the presence of world junior champion Neeraj Mishra. The youngster claimed gold with a hurl of 80.49 metres while Devender Singh, who had produced a massive throw in the first Grand Prix, was absent. Annu Rani won the women’s javelin with a 59.75M throw.
Results:
Men: 100M (combined result of three races): Amiya Kumar Mallick (Orissa) 10.62 seconds, 1; Safikul Mondal (Bengal) 10.72, 2; Shalin (Gujarat) 10.81, 3. 400M: Arokia Rajiv (Tamil Nadu) 46.94 seconds, 1; Sachin Roby (Kerala) 47.32, 2; Muhammed Anas (Kerala) 48.70, 3.
400M hurdles: Santhosh Kumar T (Tamil Nadu) 50.64 seconds, 1; Jabir M P (Kerala) 51.18, 2; Jithin Paul (Kerala) 51.30, 3.
Long jump: Ankit Sharma (Madhya Pradesh) 7.71 metres, 1; Samsheer S E (Karnataka) 7.63, 2; Baljinder Singh (Punjab) 7.33, 3.
Triple jump: Arpinder Singh (Punjab) 16.19 metres, 1; Praveen (Tamil Nadu) 14.96, 2.
Shot put: Saurabh Vij (ONGC) 18.83 metres, 1; Kulwinder Singh (ONGC) 17.38, 2; Jaspal Singh (Haryana) 16.48, 3.
Discus: Baljinder Singh (Punjab) 53.47 metres, 1; Mithravarun (Tamil Nadu) 49.18, 2; Praveen Kumar Nehra (Rajasthan) 47.30, 3.
Javelin: Neeraj Mishra (Haryana) 80.49 metres, 1; Abhishek Singh (Uttar Pradesh) 74.65, 2; Samarjeet Singh (Rajasthan) 72.95, 3.
Women: 100M: Merlin K Joseph (Kerala) 11.72 seconds, 1; Reena George (Karnataka) 11.85, 2; Himashree Roy (Bengal) 11.92, 3.
400M: M R Poovamma (Karnataka) 52.66 seconds, 1; Jisna Mathew (Kerala) 52.67, 2; Debashree Majumdar (Bengal) 54.00, 3.
Long jump: Liksy Joseph (Kerala) 6.24 metres, 1; G Karthika (Tamil Nadu) 6.07, 2; Purnima Hembram (Orissa) 6.01, 3.
Javelin: Annu Rani (Uttar Pradesh) 59.75 metres, 1; Rashmi K (Karnataka) 47.38, 2; Runjun Pegu (Assam) 44.14, 3.