K.M. Deeksha executed a well-planned tactical race to upset 1500m National record holder Harmilan Bains for the gold medal in the National inter-state athletics championships at the Kalinga Stadium here on Friday.
Twenty-three-year-old Deeksha timed 4:06.07 to give her personal best and beat Harmilan by 2.43 seconds. She led a pack of four athletes, including Chanda (4:09.39) and Pooja (4:09.52), who breached the Asian Games qualifying mark.
The Amroha girl’s previous best was 4:14.02 at the National under-23 championships in Delhi in 2021.
Deeksha overtook Harmilan in the last 200m to rewrite the meet record. “All credit goes to my coach Shivkumar Prasad’s planning,” said Deeksha.
Anjali Devi dipped her time twice in a day to claim the women’s 400m title by clocking a stunning personal best of 51.48. Second-placed Himanshi Malik, who did 52.46 in the semifinals, third-slotted R.Vithya Ramraj, who achieved 52.43 in the morning, and fourth-place finisher Aishwarya Mishra, who clocked 52.73 in the semifinals and 52.79 in the final, also qualified for the Asian Games.
Parul Chaudhary (3000m steeplechase) was another prominent athlete to qualify for the continental games with a meet record.
Three men each achieved Hangzhou Games mark in 400m and 800m. Triple jumper Sheena N.V. also achieved qualification.
Krishan Kumar timed 1:46.17 to clinch a hat-trick of gold medals in 800m.
Muhammed Anas showed improvement to time 45.63 in semifinal and 45.76 in final to secure the second position in men’s 400m behind Sri Lankan Kalinga Kumarage (45.64). Muhammed Ajmal (45.51 in semifinal bettering Pramjit Singh’s 23-year-old meet record of 45.56, 45.90 in final) and Amoj Jacob (45.91) also got below the Asiad qualification mark.
The results (Finals):
Men:
100m (WC QM: 10.00, AG QM: 10.19): 1. Siva Kumar B. (TN) 10.37, 2. Harjit Singh (Pun) 10.45, 3. Elakkiyadasan K. (TN) 10.47; 400m (WC QM: 45.00, AG QM: 46.17): 1. Kalinga Kumarage (SL) 45.64, 2. Muhammed Anas (Ker) 45.76, 3. Muhammed Ajmal (Ker) 45.90; 800m (WC QM: 1:44.70, AG QM: 1:49.05): 1. Krishan Kumar (Har) 1:46.17, 2. Mohammed Afsal (Ker) 1:47.47, 3. Pradeep Senthilkumar (TN) 1:48.10; 3000m steeplechase (WC QM: 8:15.00, AG QM: 8:35.40): 1. Balkishan (Har) 8:38.98, 2. Sumit Kumar (Del) 8:43.45, 3. Prince Raj Mishra (Sik) 8:44.55; Discus (WC QM: 67.00, AG QM: 58.00): 1. Kirpal Singh (Pun) 57.39m, 2. Gagandeep Singh (Pun) 55.69m, 3. Nirbhay Singh (Har) 55.21m; 35km race walk (WC QM: 2:29:40, AG QM: 2:35:00): 1. Juned (Har) 3:00:37, 2. Eknath Turamb (Mah) 3:03:40, 3. Vikash Yadav (Raj) 3:06:06.
Women:
100m (WC QM: 11.08, AG QM: 11.42): 1. Jyothi Yarraji (AP) 11.46, 2. Srabani Nanda (Odi) 11.59, 3. Himashree Roy (Har) 11.71; 400m (WC QM: 51.00, AG QM: 52.96): 1. Anjali Devi (Har) 51.48, 2. Himanshi Malik (Har) 51.76, 3. R.Vithya Ramraj (TN) 52.49; 1500m (WC QM: 4:03.50, AG QM: 4:15.49): 1. K.M. Deeksha (MP) 4:06.07 (NMR, Old 4:10.51, Sinimol Paulose, 2006), 2. Harmilan Bains (Pun) 4:08.50, 3. Chanda (Del) 4:09.39; 3000m steeplechase (WC QM: 9:23.00, AG QM: 9:47.00): 1. Parul Chaudhary (UP) 9:34.23 (NMR, Old 9:39.59, Sudha Singh, 2018), 2. Priti Lamba (Har) 9:52.89, 3. Komal Jagdale (Mah) 10.13.10; Triple jump (WC QM: 14.52m, AG QM: 13.58m): 1. Sheena N.V. (Ker) 13.60m, 2. Nayana James (Ker) 13.33m, 3. Mallala Anusha (AP) 13.24m; Discus (WC QM: 64.20, AG QM: 57.00): 1. Seema Punia (UP) 56.50m, 2. Shalini Chaudhary (MP) 48.66mKiran (Raj) 48.25m; 35km race walk (WC QM: 2:51:30, AG QM: 2:58:30): 1. Manju Rani (Pun) 3:21:31, 2. Mamta Pal (UP) 3:40:26, Komal (Har) 3:42:41
4x400m mixed relay (AG QM: 3:17.50): 1. Tamil Nadu 3:21.40, 2. Maharashtra 3:21.67, 3. Karnataka 3:21.88.
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