Warangal, Sep 19: Assam sprinter Amlan Borgohain, Tamil Nadu triple-jumper Praveen Chithravel and experienced Rajasthan hammer thrower Manju Bala Singh produced career-best efforts to emerge champions on the final day of the 60th National Open Athletics Championships, here on Sunday.
Borgohain clocked a sensational time of 20.75 seconds to win the men’s 200m final. Only Muhammed Anas Yahia (20.63), Dharambir Singh (20.66), Arokia Rajiv (20.66) and Anil Kumar (20.73) have run a faster time over the distance in the history of Indian athletics.
Borgohain burst out of the blocks and sped ahead of the pack to break the beam in 20.75 seconds.
The 20-year-old Chithravel, whose previous best of 16.51m that came in March 2019, nailed the triple jump gold medal with his opening try of 16.88m. He is now third on India’s top list in hop, step and jump behind Renjit Maheswary (17.30m) and Arpinder Singh (17.17m).
Manju Bala Singh, a 2014 Asian Games medallist, had five throws over the 60m mark with a career best of 64.42m on her third attempt to claim the women’s hammer throw meet record from Hardeep Kaur who set it at 61.67m in 2002.
The 32-year-old produced the second best throw by an Indian woman behind Sarita Romit Singh’s national record of 65.25m.
Kartik Kumar (Services) and Sanjivani Baburao Jadhav (Maharashtra) overcame opening day disappointments to claim gold in the 10,000m events on the final day. (PTI)
