The Hindu : Sport / Athletics : Arunjith completes sprint double

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Arunjith completes sprint double

Principal Correspondent

— File Photo: R. Ragu

CREDITABLE DOUBLE: S. Arunjith is delighted after he bagged a sprint double.

KOCHI: Three years ago, when he thought his sprinting needed fine-tuning, S. Arunjith took a bus from Cherthala to the SAI Centre in Kollam. That trip turned out to be a very rewarding one.

“That move changed my life, my reaction time improved in a big way, all thanks to coach Udayakumar,” said the 20-year-old, who won the 100m and 200m at the Guwahati National Games early this year.

Arunjith comfortably completed a sprint double when he won the men’s 200m in the 51st State senior athletic championship here on Sunday. He had emerged the State championship’s fastest-ever only a day earlier. But with nobody to push him, Arunjith missed the 200m record by a whisker on Sunday.

A little later, there was excitement in the air as a group of young women lined up for the triple jump. The bunch included National champions, junior National record owners and young hopefuls.

At least five of them had crossed 12.80m earlier, which meant that the championship record of 12.76m was in great trouble.

In the end, Railways’ seasoned Tessymol Joseph broke the record and grabbed the gold with a last round effort of 13.02m.

She had shattered the women’s high jump record a day earlier. “I had to fight harder for this gold,” she said.

P.T. Usha’s trainee, Aswathy Mohanan, also completed a record double by winning the under-16 girls’ 200m, while the talented Tintu Luka, also from Usha’s School, made a fine comeback to the circuit after an eight-month break by comfortably taking the women’s 800m gold.

Ernakulam (147 points) won the overall title in the State senior championship, while Malabar Sports Academy (Kozhikode, 283 points) won the honours in the inter-club meet.

The records:

Senior State: Women: Tessymol Joseph (Tvm, triple jump, 13.02m, — OR 12.76, Tincy Philip, 2004), Thrissur’s M.A. Prajusha (12.94, also bettered record). M.P. Sinimol (Tvm, heptathlon, 4914 points, — OR 4677, M.T. Mary , 1982).

State junior inter-club championship:

Boys: U-20: C.G. Anas (SAI, Koz, 200m, 22.3s, — OR 22.4, K.R. Sumesh, Christ College, 2003); Shejil Varghese (SAI, Tsr, 400m hurdles, 52.9s, — OR 55.7, Kiran Prasad, St. Thomas College, Tsr, 2003), Joyal Joseph (CSH, Ktm, 5 4.7, — BR).

U-18: P.K. Anilkumar (Mar Basil HSS, Koth, 5,000m, 16 mins, — OR 16:15.1s, V. Vishnu Kumar, Parali HS, 2004), M. Ramz (MNKM AC, Chittilamcherry, 16:6.7, — BR); K.P. Jithin Paul (SAI, Tsr, 400m hurdles, 54.3s, — OR 55. 8, Shejil Varghese, SAI Tsr, 2006).

U-16: M. Sreeraj (Mar Basil HSS, 200m, 23.1s, — OR 23.2, own, 2006); C.M. Neeraj (SAI, Tsr, 800m, 2:1.7s, — OR 2:03.4, P.V. Anish, GVR, Tvm, 2003), U.N. Arunkumar (CSH Ktm, 2:1.9, — BR). I. Ijas (Mar Basil, Koth., dis cus, 38.98m, — OR 34.71, Akhil Thomas, Jayasree HSS, 2006).

Girls: U-16: Aswathy Mohanan (Usha School of Athletics, Koz, 200m, 25.7s, — OR 26.1, C.Shilpa, USA. 2006), A.V. Swathy Prabha (USA, 26.1, — EMR). K. Sinsha (St. George HSS, Koth, 800m, 2:22.1s, — OR 2:20s, Tintu Luka, USA, 2004), Shilpa Chacki (Mar Basil, Koth, 2:24s, — BMR) & Dincy Davis (USA, 2:24, — BMR).

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