Bhubaneswar, June 26: National record holder Tejas Shirse hardly broke a sweat while winning the 110m hurdles gold to virtually book an Asian Games ticket on the third day of the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships here on Friday.
The 24-year-old Shirse, representing Maharashtra, clocked 13.61 seconds to win the race as he eased towards the finish line, raising his hand afterwards. He bettered the Asian Games qualifying time of 13.63 seconds set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
His national record stands at 13.27 seconds which he set in Ludhiana in the Indian Athletics series just a few days ago. He has also been earlier named in the 32-member Indian athletics team for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Manav R of Tamil Nadu was second with 13.66 seconds while Krishik M of Karnataka was third with 13.69 seconds.
The race saw three false starts and one disqualification – that of Madhvendra Sekhawat of Rajasthan – and Shirse said it was due to rain that lashed the Odisha capital in the first half of the day.
“It just rained, and this is a new track, I think it got a little soft. Because of that, the block was slipping for a lot of people. But mine didn’t happen, so I’m thankful to that,” he said.
He said his sole aim was to breach the Asian Games qualification time and nothing else.
“My aim is to win a medal in the Asian Games. I am now in the fifth spot (among season leaders) in Asia, so I can do it (win medal).”
Shirse said he is looking to compete in Europe either in Lausanne on July 16 or in Budapest on July 18.
In the men’s hammer throw, Damneet Singh of Punjab and Praveen Kumar of Rajasthan breached the Asian Games qualifying distance of 69.12m, clinching gold and silver with efforts of 69.72m and 69.58m respectively.
National record holder Praveen Chithravel of Tamil Nadu won the men’s triple jump gold with a modest effort of 16.92m though he breached the Asian Games qualifying distance of 16.28m.
In fact, the top six finishers in the competition bettered the Asian Games qualifying mark but a maximum of two can compete from a country in the multi-sporting event in Japan later in the year.
U Karthik (16.80m) of Kerala took the silver and Selva Prabhu (16.79m) of Tamil Nadu the bronze. Abdulla Aboobacker of Kerala was fourth with 16.54m, while J Mohanraj (16.53m) and Gailey Venister — both of Tamil Nadu — were fifth and sixth respectively.
In the women’s discus throw, the Haryana trio of Seema, Sanya Yadav and Nidhi Rani clinched gold, silver and bronze respectively with efforts of 59.73m, 56.05m and 55.92m. All of them breached the Asian Games qualifying distance of 55.48m.
Seema and Nidhi are also in the Commonwealth Games team.
Earlier in the morning, experienced Uttar Pradesh athlete Munita Prajapati overcame the discomfort caused by heat and humidity to win the women’s half marathon gold medal.
The 24-year-old clocked 1:45.05 seconds to cover the 21.09km course but missed the Asian Games qualifying mark of 1:37.20 set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
Her personal best is 1:39.26 which she clocked while finishing second at the Indian Race Walking Championships in Chandigarh in February this year.
Another Uttar Pradesh athlete Reshma Patel won the silver with a time of 1:45.48, while Sejal Anil Singh (1:46.31) of Maharashtra was third.
National record-holder and Commonwealth Games-bound Ravina of Haryana was fourth with 1:48.56. (PTI)
