Odisha dominate as depleted field marks Athletics Series 11 meet

Kolkata, Jun 15 (PTI) Odisha athletes dominated the Indian Athletics Series 11 here at the SAI Salt Lake on Monday, but the competition was marked by a depleted field, with several events witnessing thin participation following a number of late pullouts.

The absence of some of the country’s leading athletes, including Indian sprint star Animesh Kujur, Asian Championships silver medallist Abha Khatua and former Asian Games champion Hima Das, who were named in the initial entry list, robbed the meet of much of its sheen as a national-level athletics meet returned to the city after a long time.

The women’s javelin throw, which initially had 12 entries, had just one competitor after all the other entrants pulled out.

Odisha’s Arpita Archana Sahoo was

the lone contestant and registered a best throw of 42.23m.

The men’s shot put featured only two athletes despite four entries initially being listed.

Rahul Krishna of Maharashtra won the event with a throw of 15.54m, while Abhishek Singh finished second with 13.88m.

Odisha athletes, however, made the most of the opportunities on offer.

Dondapati M clinched the men’s 100m title in 10.56 seconds and later finished second in the 200m.

The half-lap race was won by fellow Odisha athlete Astik Pradhan, who clocked 21.29 seconds.

Mousumi Roy Uttam added another title for Odisha by winning the women’s 100m in 12.06 seconds.

One of the closest contests of the day came in the opening event, the women’s 5,000m, where experienced distance runner Sanjivani Jadhav of Maharashtra edged past two-time Asian Games silver medallist Harmilan Bains in a thrilling finish.

Jadhav clocked 16:47.16 seconds to finish ahead of Harmilan (16:47.43), while Sonam Parmar of IOCL was third in 16:49.34.

Among other notable performances, Air Force athlete Mijo Chacko Kurian won the men’s 400m in 46.52 seconds, while Uttar Pradesh’s Shyam Milan Bind topped the men’s 800m field with a timing of 1:49.93.

Railway Sports’ Ravi Gulia won the men’s 5,000m in 14:09.94, while Odisha’s Jiwanmukti Bilung took the men’s long jump title with an effort of 7.28m.

Results Men: 100m: Dondapati M (Odisha) 10.56 secs, Vignesh A (Madhya Pradesh) 10.73 secs, Shiv Kumar Soren (Jharkhand) 10.80 secs.

200m: Astik Pradhan (Odisha) 21.29 secs, Dondapati M (Odisha) 21.41 secs, Aryan Ekka (Odisha) 21.90 secs.

400m: Mijo Chacko Kurian (Air Force) 46.52 secs, Tushar Kanti Manna (Navy) 46.82 secs, Buddhadeb Bauri (West Bengal) 47.29 secs.

800m: Shyam Milan Bind (Uttar Pradesh) 1:49.93 secs, Sahil Khan (Rajasthan) 1:51.90 secs, MD Mahasin (West Bengal) 1:53.51 secs.

5,000m: Ravi Gulia (Railway Sports) 14:09.94 secs, Ajay (Haryana) 14:19.79 secs, Satish Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 14:23.80 secs.

Women: 100m: Mousumi Roy Uttam (Odisha) 12.06 secs, Swathi Rongali (JSW) 12.20 secs, Tamashree Mishra (West Bengal) 12.32 secs.

400m: Punitha Durairajan (Tamil Nadu) 56.11 secs, Aditi Banerjee (West Bengal) 56.96 secs, Gurdeep Kaur (Punjab) 58.30 secs.

5,000m: Sanjivani Jadhav (Maharashtra) 16:47.16 secs, Harmilan Bains (Chandigarh) 16:47.43 secs, Sonam Parmar (IOCL) 16:49.34 secs. PTI TAP DDV