Indian Grand Prix I: Jeswin, Ancy at their scorching best

Jeswin Aldrin and Ancy Sojan produced career best jumps in the long jump events of the first leg of the Indian Grand Prix at the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium on Sunday.

Jeswin Aldrin of Tamil Nadu leaps to a distance of 8.20m in the men's long jump of the Indian Grand Prix I.

Young Jeswin Aldrin and Ancy Sojan were on a zone of their own, getting to their career bests in the long jump events of the first leg of the Indian Grand Prix at the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium here on Sunday.

But for the great performances uncorked by these two, the rest of the events simply fell flat, with the seasoned Hima Das and national shot put record holder Manpreet Kaur even biting the dust, though unexpectedly.

Ancy, the Kerala sand-kicker continued her love affair with the pit, as she powered her way to an exciting win in the women’s long jump, often competing against herself as her rivals could hardly get going. The Thrissur collegian, who had posted an impressive 6.51m  in the Indian Open jumps competition, started the day with 6.20m before gaining strength to strength through the series.

A foul in the second was followed by her best of the day as Ancy got to 6.55m – the second ever best effort in Indian soil – and then leapt to an equally superb 6.52m in the fourth. She returned a distance of 6.40m in her fifth, before overstepping on her sixth.

 

The unassuming Tamil Nadu lad, Jeswin, was hardly considered a favourite before the men’s long jump final, the tag firmly resting on Mohammed Anees Yahiya, who had got to 8.15m in the season opener last fortnight. But, as the last year’s inter-State champion failed to get to his element, Aldrin, a second-year degree student, hailing from Tirunelveli, clawed his way to the top with a terrific sequence.

The 21-year-old, who had won the South Zone boys under-20 title with a best of 7.97m, last year in Kozhikode, was in the lead straight away before uncorking an almost unbelievable series, getting past the coveted 8m-mark with his last three jumps – 8.09m in the fourth, followed by an improved 8.11m and 8.20m. The last effort, being the second-best in the event by an Indian- behind national record holder M. Sreeshankar (8.26m), who missed today’s action.

The results: Men : 200m: 1. Amlan Borgohain (Asm), 20.94s, 2. N.S. Srinivas (AP), 21.31s, 3. S. Arokia Rajeev (TN), 21.49s. 400M: 1. Amol Jacob (Del), 45.98s, 2. Tom Noah Nirmal (Ker), 46.08s, 3. Rajesh Ramesh (TN), 46.35s 1500m: 1. Ajay Kumar Saroj (UP), 3: 43.53, 2. Shashi Bushan Singh (WB), 3:43.62, 3. Rahul (Del), 3: 43.80. 5000m: 1. Abhishek Pal (UP), 13:56.15, 2. Kartik Kumar (UP), 14:15.22, 3.Abdul Bari (UP), 14:26.22. Long jump: 1. Jeswin Aldrin (TN), 8.20m, 2. Mohammed Anees Yahiya (Ker), 7.70m, 3. Praveen Chithravel (TN), 7.58m. Shot put: 1. Karanveer Singh (Pun), 19.06m, 2. Prajwal Shetty (Kar), 18.94m, 3. G. Venkatesh Naidu (AP), 13.57m. Javelin throw: 1. D.P. Manu (Kar), 82.43m, 2. Rohit Yadav (UP), 80.03m, 3. Uttam Patil (Mah), 76.30m. Women : 200m: 1. Dhana Lakshmi (TN), 23.21s, 2. Hima Das (Asm), 23.45s, 3. P. D. Anjali (Ker), 24,19s. 400M: 1. H. Priya Mohan (Kar), 52.91s, 3. Poovamma Raju (Kar), 53.39s, 3. Dandi Jyothika Sri (AP), 54.44s. 1500m: 1. Lili Das (WB), 4:12.57, 2. Priscilla Daniel (Ker), 4:52.09. 5000m: 1. Kavita Yadav (UP) 16:36.00, 2. Chatri (Raj), 17:56.54. Long jump: 1. Ancy Sojan (Ker), 6.55m, 2. Pooja Saini (Raj), 5.93m, 3. Susmita (Raj), 5.86m. Shot put: 1. Abha Khatua (Mah), 17.13m, 2. Manpreet Kaur (Har), 16.78m, 3. Archana Chaudhary (Raj), 14.47m. Javelin throw: 1. Kumari Sharmila (Har), 54.20m, 2. Karishma S. Sanil (Kar), 52.17m.