Qosanov Memorial 2022 | Dhanalakshmi Sekar wins 200m gold, sets personal best
Dhanalakshmi Sekar, a Tokyo Olympian, won the 200-meter sprint on Sunday at the Qosanov Memorial 2022 athletics competition in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with a timing that was a personal best (22.89). Sekar missed breaking Saraswati Saha's 22.82-second national record that has stood for 20 years.
Olga Safronova of Kazakhstan, who won the gold medal at the Asian Games, placed second in 23.21 seconds, while Dutee Chand took third place in 23.60 seconds. At the Commonwealth Games 2022, which will take place in Birmingham, United Kingdom, from July 28 to August 8, Dhanalakshmi will only be competing in the 100m.
Tajinderpal Singh Toor, an Olympian from Tokyo, did not begin the competition despite being required by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) to demonstrate his physical preparedness and achieve success in contests before the Commonwealth Games in order to guarantee his spot on the squad.
Karanveer Singh (19.47m), an Indian, won the top spot on the shot put podium in Tajinderpal Singh Toor's absence. Sarita Singh, an Indian hammer thrower, has also been nominated provisionally to the team for the Commonwealth Games with Tajinderpal Singh Toor. Her throw of 62.48 meters earned her the gold medal. Second place went to Uzbek Zarina Nosirjonova (57.68m), while third place went to her countrywoman Elina Silyamieva (55.39m).
Women's javelin thrower Annu Rani and women's long jumper Ancy Sojan improved their Commonwealth Games preparations by capturing gold in their respective events. Both Indian athletes have already secured spots in Birmingham 2022.
Shilpa Rani (56.16m) and Sanjana Choudhary (55.12m) were second and third in India's landslide victory in the women's javelin throw, respectively, behind Annu Rani (62.29m). With a 6.44m jump, Ancy Sojan captured the long jump gold. Eldhose Paul (16.55m) and Karthik Unnikrishnan (16.15m) lost to Nazim Babayev (16.93m) of Azerbaijan for first place in the men's triple jump.
India finished the World Athletics bronze-level Qosanov Memorial 2022 athletics competition with 28 medals, including 15 golds.