Federation Cup | Eight athletes qualify for Asian Athletics Championships on Day 2
Eight Indian athletes earned tickets for the upcoming Asian Athletics Championships on the second day of the ongoing Federation Cup Senior National Athletics Championship in Patiala. Dharun Ayyasamy has set a new national record in men’s 400m hurdles at the same event to overtake his previous one.
Ayyasamy had a sensational outing on the second day of the 23rd Federation Cup as he ended the 400m hurdles with a timing of 48.80 seconds which was enough for him to better his own record of 48.96 that he had achieved during the Asian Games last year. In that process, he also qualified for the Doha Championships as the qualification standard was 50.00 seconds as set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). Kerala’s MP Jabir claimed the silver medal in that category while M
"I can go even faster. My goal is to record a time of 48.50. Maybe I will do it at the Asian Championships," Ayyasamy said after the race, reported PTI.
Gujarat’s Saritaben Gayakwad registered a new meet record in the women's 400m hurdles with a timing of 57.21 seconds. Karnataka’s Arpitha M claimed the silver medal with 57.45 seconds at the same event and both of them managed to earn a berth for the Asian Athletics Championships. Odisha’s Jauna Murmu, who represented India in hurdles at the Asian Championships in 2017, failed to qualify and settled with a bronze medal by clocking 57.58.
Gomathi Marimuthu of Tamil Nadu and Twinkle Chaudhary of Punjab have also made it to the Doha event in the women's 800m race with a time of 2.03.21 and 2.03.67 respectively.
The biggest surprise of the day was in men’s triple jump where Asian Games gold medallist Arpinder Singh finished outside the medal bracket. Youth Olympics bronze medalist Praveen Chitravel recorded his personal best jump of 16.51m to qualify for the Doha event and claim a gold medal as well. Mohammad Zuber and Mohammad Salahuddin finished at the second and third position respectively with jumps of 16.38m and 16.36m.
In men’s javelin throw, Shivpal Singh claimed the gold medal with 82.56m while Vipin Kasana clinched the silver medal with 81.23m. Both the medal winners also qualified for the Asian Championships to be held in Qatar’s capital this year as they easily managed to score more than the AFI standard of 80.75m.
