Hanumakonda: Parul strikes double gold

Hanumakonda: Parul Chaudhary of Railways stole the show on the third day of the 60th National Open Athletics Championships (NOAC)-2021 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Friday. She (9:51.01) beat Komal Chandrakant Jagadai (9:51.03) of Maharashtra in the women's 3000m steeplechase. It was a neck and neck contest; however, she galloped past Jagadai to win her second Gold Medal. Although Parul appeared a bit slow right through the run, she powered herself to win the race in the last few seconds. It may be mentioned here that she already won a Gold Medal in the Women 5000m Run.

Railways, which continued its dominance, won five gold medals in 10 final events. Kanimozhi C continued her winning streak this year and bagged the third gold after her 100m hurdles win (13.54). She won in the Federation Cup and interstate championship also. "Winning gold means a lot to me as I have been preparing for this competition for over seven months. My ambition is to represent India and laurels to the country in the upcoming Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games," Kanimozhi said.

Meanwhile, the men's 3000m steeplechase was completely dominated by the Services team which grabbed the top three positions.

Shankar Lal Swami took the lead from the beginning but let teammate Nur Hasan in the front in the penultimate lap. He pushed hard in the final lap to finish in 8:45.05. It was his first gold representing Services. "The climate and the ambience in Warangal is very good. Now I believe in myself that I can do better in my ensuing competitions," Shankar said. Tejas Ashok Shirse of Maharashtra (14.09), who participated for the first time in the seniors category, bagged the gold in men's 110m hurdles. He was followed by Sachin Binu(14.214) and Tarundeep Singh Bhatia (14.219) of Services. Earlier in the day, Ram Baboo of Uttar Pradesh (2:46:31) and Ramandeep Kaur of Punjab (3:15:17) took the gold in their respective 35km race walk. The mixed 4x400 relay was won by Tamil Nadu D team clocking 3:26.22 ahead of Punjab E's 3:27.49 and Delhi B's 3:28.01.

The Results:

Men's 35km Race Walk1. Ram Baboo (Uttar Pradesh) 2:46:31,2; Sagar Satishchandra Joshi (Gujarat) 2:53:43, 3. Surinder Singh (Punjab) 2:54:22.

High Jump: 1. Jesse Sandesh (Railways) 2.17m, 2. Bharathi Viswanathan (Services) 2.17m, 3. Sarvesh Anil Kushare (Services) 2.17m.

Shot Put: 1. Karanveer Singh (Railways) 18.46m; 2. Devinder Singh (Punjab) 18.02; and 3. Vanam Sharma (Rajasthan) 17.96m.

3000m steeplechase: 1.Shankar Lal Swami (Services) 8:46.05; 2. Md Nur Hasan (Services) 8:50.00; and 3. Balkishan, (Services) 8:50.45

Women 35km Race Walk: 1. Ramandeep Kaur (Punjab) 3:15:17; 2. Sonal Sukhwal (Rajasthan) 3:18:35; and 3. Priyanka Patel (Uttar Pradesh) 3:27:56.

100m hurdles: 1. Kanimozhi C (Railways) 13.54; 2. Aparna Roy (Kerala) 13.58; and 3. Nandhini K (Tamil Nadu) 13.90.

Long Jump: 1. Aishwarya B (Railways) 6.52m; 2. Sherin A (Tamil Nadu) 6.27m; and 3. Priyanka Kerketta (Railways) 6.05m.