Rlys rule on Day One; Navale emerges fastest man

Rlys rule on Day One; Navale emerges fastest man
Press Trust of India

Calcutta, October 9: The strong Railways contingent ruled the roost scooping up six of the 16 gold medals at stake as two meet records fell by the wayside on the opening day of the 40th Open National Athletic Championship at the Salt Lake stadium here on Monday.

GG Pramila stole the limelight by setting a new meet record in the women's long jump event. Hardeep Kaur re-wrote the women's hammer throw record on a day which saw below par performance by most of the athletes.

Keeping her reputation intact, the talented Pramila of Railways leaped to a distance of 6.38m to establish a new meet record, eclipsing Lekha Thomas' record of 6.33m set in the last Open Nationals in Bhopal.

LIC's Hardeep Kaur not only pulled off an upset of sorts by getting the better of the fancied K Jebeswari Debi but also set a new National record in the women's hammer throw event throwing to a distance of 58.95m.

She eclipsed Jebeswari Debi's National record of 58.36m recorded at Chennai this year while Debi's meet record of 52.20m also took a beating.

While the Railways, despite the absence of a number of their star athletes began their medal hunt in right earnest, LIC and Police picked up three gold medals each on the opening day. Services, Maharashtra, Bihar and Punjab chipped in with a gold medal each.

Twentyone-year-old Sachin Navale of Maharashtra became the fastest man of the meet by claiming the gold in the glamorous men's 100 metre event with a timing of 10.75 sec in a keenly contested race.

Railwayman CT Durai also finished with an identical timing of 10.75 sec but the photo finish showed Navale breasting ahead of his rival. Favourite Anand Manezes was pushed to the third spot clocking 10.80 sec.

Shotputter Shakti Singh, who put up a rather disappointing performance in the Sydney Olympics, did not do anything to salvage his reputation as he finished second in the shot put event.

Unheralded Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat of Services snatched the coveted gold medal in the event hurling the iron ball to a distance of 18.75 metre while Shakti Singh could manage a throw of 18.47 metre.

In the women's 200 metre run, V Pandeswari of Railways took the gold with a timing of 24.59 well ahead of her rival Manjit Kaur of Police who claimed the silver with a timing of 25.22 sec.

Harish Tiwari of LIC brought the lone gold for his unit by finishing first in the gruelling men's 10,000m run with a timing of 31:04.08 secFavourite BS Lone of Railways was pushed to the second position clocking 31:04.25 in a tightly contested race.

In the women's 5000m run, Molly Biju of Railways secured the gold with a timing of 17:15.40 sec Amarjit Singh of Punjab claimed the gold in the men's triple jump event leaping to a distance of 15.56 m