Dutee Chand stole the show in setting a national record in women’s 100 metres with a time of 10.33 seconds, but missed the Olympic qualification mark by one hundredth of a second, in the 20th Federation Cup athletics championships at the Nehru Stadium here on Thursday.
On a day when Amiya Kumar Mallick set a national record in men’s 100 metres with a time of 10.26 in the semifinals, Dutee beat a strong field that included >Pinki Pramanik who was returning to the circuit , after years in the wilderness.
The earlier national record of 10.38 had stood against the name of Rachita Mistry, who set the mark in August 2000 in Thiruvananthapuram. Srabani Nanda and H.M. Jyothi pushed Dutee hard, before she flew at the finish. Both Dutee and coach N. Ramesh, mobbed by a very big media contingent, were understandably very happy with the record, and expressed confidence that going under the qualification mark would only be a mere matter of time.
On a worn out track, with glaring craters all around the periphery, the women’s 100-metre runners had given a fair hint of their prowess in the morning itself, with astonishing qualification timings of 11.48 (Dutee Chand), 11.60 (HM Jyothi) and 11.68 (Srabani Nanda), as they won the three heats.
The women could conserve some energy, as there was no semifinal, unlike the men who expended energy in the afternoon with another race before the final. Thus, it was no surprise that Amiya Kumar , who latter claimed that he had a strained hamstring, was pushed to the fourth spot, one hundredth of a second behind bronze medallist and national record holder Md. Abdul Qureshi .
Jyotisankar Debnath dipped at 10.41 seconds, close to the national record of 10.30, beating Krishnakumar Sarane by three hundredth of a second in a spectacular finish for the gold.
There was surprise on the shot put arena, the warm-up area outside the main stadium, as Tajinderpal Singh Toor (19.93 metres) beat Asian champion Inderjeet Singh by more than two feet. Inderjeet, who had qualified for the Olympics in May last year, and had trained for about five months in the US, started very well with a throw of 19.17 but could not go beyond with the only other valid throw he registered (19.10).
He had no mark with four throws as a big gathering watched the proceedings with interest. National record holder Omprakash Karhana threw 18.28 metres, for the fourth place. There were only two runners in the women’s 100 metres hurdles, the first final of the afternoon, as N. Gayathri did not start. However, it was a comedy of errors as Pinki Rani (15.41) finished much ahead of Priyanka (18.39).
The results:
Men:
100m: 1. Jyotisankar Debnath 10.41; 2. Krishnakumar Sarane 10.44; 3. Md. Abdul Qureshi 10.50. 5000m: 1. G. Lakshmanan 13:51.29; 2. Suresh Kumar 13:52.83; 3. Yunus Mohammed 14:11.55. 110m hurdles: 1. Suresh Arumugam 14.33; 2. Anupendra Kumar 14.70; 3. T. Balamurugan 14.72. Pole vault: 1. J Preeth 4.95; 2. Anuj Singh 4.70; 3. Pradhyuman Narbar and Sonu Saini 4.70. Shot put: 1. Tajinderpal Singh Toor 19.93; 2. Inderjeet Singh 19.17; 3. Jaideep Singh 18.36. Javelin: 1. Vipin Kasana 76.42; 2. Shivpal Singh 76.38; 3. Davinder Singh 76.26.
Women: 100m: 1. Dutee Chand 11.33 (NR, old 11.38); 2. Srabani Nanda 11.45; 3. HM Jyothi 11.46. 5000m: 1. L. Suriya 15:39.59; 2. Swati Haridas Gadhawe 15:44.00; 3. Sanjeevani Jadhav 16:36.92. Long jump: 1. MA Prajusha 6.30; 2. V. Neena 6.24; 3. Shradda Ghule 6.21. Hammer throw: 1. Sarita Prakash 61.81; 2. Gunjan Singh 55.38; 3. Ritu Dhiman 54.90.
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