RAICHUR: M.G. Joseph of host Karnataka emerged the fastest athlete of the 18th South Zone junior inter-State athletics championship with an 11.3 seconds effort as the opening day's programme was gone through with some bright sunshine in the afternoon session.

The Mahatma Gandhi Stadium, that was drenched over the last few days, did see a spell of showers even as the athletes marched past Chief Guest Hanumanthappa Alkod, the Karnataka Minister for Sports and Youth Services, in a delayed inauguration ceremony on Wednesday morning.

The sprinters slipped and slid and returned with poor timings in the forenoon events, but the conditions improved drastically in the afternoon with the sun beating down hard and enabling some semblance of sanity and decent showing.

The Tamil Nadu athletes, the overall champions in the last edition, understandably dominated the day's proceedings, but it was the emergence of the Andhra Pradesh athletes that was heartening. Host Karnataka had to settle for three gold medals with Joseph and Prasanna Kumar (javelin) along with the long limbed Prarthana Nanaiah (girls under-18 high jump) striking it rich. Prarthana, training at SAI, cleared 1.55 metres, which incidentally is her best.

C. Shilpa of Kerala was pushed hard by Karnataka's Rebecca Jose in the girls' under-16 100m. While Shilpa timed 12.6 secs, Rebecca, who clocked a poor 13.4 secs in the heats, came a close second.

The results:

Boys: Under 20: 100m: 1. M.G. Joseph (Kar), 2. Prasanna Ramachandra Rao (AP), 3. S. Sathya (TN). Time: 11.3 seconds; 400m: 1. D. Bharatha Reddy (AP), 2. Mohd. Nazeem (Ker), 3. Jayaprakash Shetty (Kar). 50.5 secs; 1500m: 1. S. Porpanaiyan (TN), 2. M. Madhan Kumaran (TN), 3. T.S. Rajeev (Ker). 4:20.2 secs; Javelin: 1. A. Udhaya Kumar (TN), 2. K. Ramakrishna (AP), 3. S. Sumesh (Ker). 54.65m.

Under-18: 100m: 1. K. Pavan Kumar (AP), 2. D. Suresh Babu (TN), 3. K. Shareef (Ker). 11.3 secs; 400m: 1. Robin Rose Mani (Ker), 2. Gnanesh (Kar), 3. Jithin Paul (Ker). 51.6 secs; 1500m: 1. R. Venkateshwarlu Naik (AP), 2. A. Aneesh (Ker), 3. T. Netaji (TN). 4:28.2 secs; Long jump: 1. P.K. Anoop (Ker), 2. D. Suresh Babu (TN), 3. R. Manikandan (TN). 6.49 m; Javelin: 1. Prasanna Kumar (Kar), 2. B. Bhoopathi (TN), 3. Anand Haveri (Kar). 56.10m.

Under-16: 100m: 1. Mohd Faiz (TN), 2. V. Seetharamaiah (AP), 3. M.M. Sreeraj (Ker). 11.6 secs; Javelin: 1. P. Suresh (TN), 2. K. Jeevan Kumar (AP), 3. G. Naveen Kumar (Kar). 40.44m.

Under-14: Triathlon (Group `B'): 1. M. Shahul Hameed (TN), 2. K. Dileep Kumar (AP), 3. B. Vinay Kumar (AP). 1418 points.

Girls: Under-20: 100m: 1. K.R. Radhika (Ker), 2. K. Srilakshmi (AP), 3. S.B. Akshaya (Kar). 13.0 secs; 400m: 1. K. Mrudula (AP), 2. S. Preethi (TN), 3. Anju Mathew (Ker). 1:00.3 secs; 1500m: 1. N.C. Mohanal (TN), 2. Devaki (Kar), 3. H.P. Sunitha (Kar). 5:03.5 secs; Discus: 1. N. Niveditha (Ker), 2. Sohani Fernandes (Kar), 3. M. Durga (TN). 36.26m.

Under-18: 100m: 1. A. Jessy (TN), 2. G. Nagalakshmi (TN), 3. K. Ramasarvani (AP). 13.0 secs; 400m: 1. K. Sonia (Ker), 2. Swetha Sagar (Kar), 3. T. Renuka (TN). 1:00.5 secs; 1500m: 1. V. Prabhavathi (AP), 2. S.R. Bindu (Ker), 3. Sukhanya (Ker). 4:58.5 secs; High jump: 1. Prarthana Nanaiah (Kar), 2. Abitha (TN), 3. N.D. Tintu (Ker). 1.55m; Discus: 1. Anicham Anban (TN), 2. E. Hemapriya (TN), 3. K. Anitha Devi (AP). 34.75m.

Under-16: 100m: 1. C. Shilpa (Ker), 2. Rebecca Jose (Kar), 3. R. Kousalya (TN). 12.6 secs; High jump: 1. K. Anandhi (TN), 2. K. Shenbaga Priya (TN), 3. S. Devi Priya (Pnd). 1.56m; Discus: 1. T. Manisha (TN), 2. Elizabeth (Kar), 3. I. Roopika (AP). 33.87m.

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