National Inter-State Athletics meet: Harmilan and Siddhant reign on a lacklustre day

Harmilan Bains clocked a personal best to win the 800m and Siddhant Thingalaya reaffirmed his dominance in the 110m hurdles in the National Inter-State Athletics Championships.

Siddhant Thingalaya (centre) en route to winning the 110m hurdles.

Harmilan Bains clocked a personal best to win the 800m and Siddhant Thingalaya reaffirmed his dominance in the 110m hurdles, but there was little to cheer about on the third day of the National Inter-State Athletics Championships here on Sunday. Most athletes did not even come close to their own bests.

None of the top quartermilers in the country participated in the individual 400m heats in the morning session, presumably to preserve energy for the relay on the final day of the competition. While none of them is in with a chance to make the cut for Tokyo though rankings, it was surprising to see them not even attempt to better their timings.

READ: Hima Das injured, at risk of missing out on Tokyo qualification

In the women’s 400m, the elusive Anjali Devi skipped the event while V.K. Vismaya, a key member of both the women’s and the mixed relay teams, failed to qualify for the final, finishing the heats with a slow time of 55.33, further adding to selection issues in the absence of Hima Das.

In the evening, Thingalaya won the 110m hurdles in 14.11 seconds while Bains took gold clocking two minutes, 2.57 seconds. It was almost four minutes faster than her previous best over the distance as per IAAF records, set in February last.

The results

Men: 800m: 1. Krishan Kumar (Har, 1:50.15), 2. Anu Kumar (Utk, 1:51.05), 3. Manjit Singh (Har, 1:51.44); 5000m: 1. Kartik Kumar (UP, 14:42.76), 2. Adesh Yadav (Mah, 14:45.75), 3. Arjun Kumar (UP, 15:01.21); 110mH: 1. Siddhant Thingalaya (Mah, 14.11s), 2. Mohd. Fais C (Ker, 14.34), 3. Amrinder Singh Aulakh (Pun, 14.48); Triple Jump: 1. Eldhose Paul (Ker, 16.58m), 2. Karthik U (Ker, 16.54m), 3. Abdulla Aboobacker (Ker, 16.37m); Discus: 1. Kirpal Singh (Pun, 58.90m), 2. Harpreet Singh (Pun, 57.73m), 3. Gagandeep Singh (Pun, 56.33m).

Women: 800m: 1. Harmilan Bains (Pun, 2:02.57), 2. Chanda (Del, 2:03.36), 3. Nimali Liyanaarachchi (SL, 2:05.69); High jump: 1. Angel Devasia (Ker, 1.65m), Giji George Stephen (TN, 1.60m); Pole vault: 1. Baranica Elangovan (TN, 3.90m), 2. Babita Patel (MP, 3.40m), Rosy Paulraj (TN, 3.30m); Heptathlon: 1. Sonu Kumari (Har, 5004 pts), 2. Kajal (Har, 4740), Madhu (Har, 4357).