Manju Rani
– Photo: Social Media
Expansion
National record holder Manju Rani of Punjab won the women’s 35 km race walk but failed to touch the Asian qualifying mark at the National Inter-Provincial Athletics Championships. Rani, 24, completed the race in three hours 21 minutes and 31 seconds in extreme heat and humidity. The Asian Games qualifying mark is 2:58.30. He had clocked 2:58.30 at the Indian Race Walking Championships in Ranchi in February.
Haryana’s Junaid Khan clocked 3:37 to win the men’s event but fell short of the Asian Games qualifying mark of 2:35. National record holder Ram Babu did not participate in this tournament. He won the title in Ranchi by clocking two hours 31 minutes 36 seconds.
Haryana’s Anjali crosses qualifying mark in 400m
In the women’s 400m semi-finals, four players crossed the Asian Games qualifying mark of 52.96 seconds. Haryana’s Anjali Devi clocked 52.03 seconds. Tamil Nadu’s Vidya Raj (52.43) was second, Haryana’s Himanshi Malik (52.46) third and Maharashtra’s Aishwarya Mishra (52.73) fourth. In the men’s section, Muhammad Ajmal (45.51) of Kerala broke the tournament record. On the other hand, Kerala’s national record holder Muhammed Anas clocked 45.63 seconds to finish second in the semi-final heat. Srabani Nanda of Odisha clocked 11.69 seconds to qualify for the women’s 100m final. Jyoti Yaraji made it to the final with a timing of 11.72 seconds.