Jyothi Yarraji won gold in the women’s 200m race after defeating favourite Archana Suseendran by clocking 23.42s on the final day of the Federation Cup 2023 at the Birsa Munda Stadium in Ranchi.
It was her personal best in the event which also helped her breach AFI’s qualifying standard of 23.50s for the Asian championships. The ace athlete had earlier topped the women’s 100m hurdles on Thursday.
Meanwhile, 200m final, national record holder Amlan Borgohain expectedly finished on top of the podium with a timing of 20.83. Animesh Kujur (20.94) and Kapil (21.44) finished in the second and third positions respectively.
Just like Yarraji, Gulveer Singh also won his second gold medal of the meet after finishing first in the men's 5000m. He clocked 13:54.41 to qualify for the Asian championships.
Distance double for Gulveer Singh of UP at Fed Cup in Ranchi. After winning 10,000m gold, he won 5,000m gold today. pic.twitter.com/TKClnu3VSY
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) May 18, 2023
Abdulla Aboobacker, who won the silver medal in triple jump at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, did not manage to surpass the 17m mark this time. However, his leap of 16.76m secured his qualification for the Asian championships as it was beyond the AFI's standard of 16.60m.
Whereas, Karthik Unnikrishnan, a former national champion, finished second in the men's triple jump event with a distance of 16.44m, while Mohammed Salahuddin claimed third place with a jump of 16.03m. But, reigning Asian Games champion, Arpinder Singh will be disappointed with his effort as he ended up in fifth place, achieving a best jump of 15.43m.
In the women's long jump, 22-year-old Ancy Sojan claimed the gold medal with a distance of 6.56m. Karthika Gothandapani secured second place with a jump of 6.31m, followed closely by Nayana James, the bronze medallist from the 2017 Asian Championships, who achieved a distance of 6.30m.
Sojan's performance also earned her a spot in the Asian athletics championships, as her jump of 6.56m surpassed the AFI's entry standard of 6.45m for women's long jumpers in the Asian championships.
In javelin, Rohit Yadav stole the limelight with five +80m throws in his six attempts. On his first throw, he achieved a distance of 83.10m, which he then improved upon during his second attempt, resulting in a gold medal-winning throw of 83.40m. Subsequently, his throws measured 83.01m, 79.19m, 80.00m, and 81.46m.
The 2022 national champion, Manu DP, was unable to replicate his performance from the Indian Grand Prix 4 in April, where he achieved a distance of 84.33m. Instead, the 23-year-old settled for the silver medal with his best throw measuring 82.95m, also achieved on the second attempt.
Sachin Yadav, who is also 23 years old, experienced a milestone in his career as he crossed the 80m mark for the first time. His final and sixth attempt resulted in a throw that covered a distance of 80.27m.
Most significantly, all three javelin throwers qualified for the Asian Athletics Championships to be held later this year as they crossed the AFI's entry standard of 78.23m.
