New Delhi: After three days of record-breaking performances, India’s track and field athletes got a rude reality check on the concluding day of Federation Cup in Ranchi with a number of them missing the Commonwealth Games cut.
The biggest disappointment came in men’s javelin, considered India’s only worthwhile event internationally. In the absence of double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra, this was an opportunity for Indian throwers to showcase their depth, but only three managed to breach the 80m mark.
Maharashtra’s Shivam Lohakare, 21, won the event with a best of 81.71m but fell short of the CWG entry standard of 82.61m. Lohakare, who won the Indian Open Throws Competition this March, produced four throws over 80m, with his winning throw coming on his last attempt. Yashvir Singh was next with 80.80m followed by the experienced Rohit Yadav who threw 80.40m.
Sachin Yadav, who was fourth at the Tokyo World Championships last year, finished fifth at 79.07m. At the 2022 edition of CWG in Birmingham, India had Manu DP and Rohit Yadav in the final — they ended fifth and sixth respectively while Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem won the competition with a 90.18m throw.
Asian Games silver medallist Kishore Jena’s slide continued as he finished seventh with a throw of 73.42m.
In the 200m, national record holder Animesh Kujur expectedly won the event, but his time of 20.64s did not meet the CWG entry mark of 20.61s.
There was something to cheer about in triple jump, though, as national record holder Praveen Chithravel comfortably surpassed the Glasgow mark of 16.89m with a leap of 17.08m. Abdulla Aboobacker was next with 16.63m followed by Tamil Nadu’s Gailey Venister (16.37m). India had a dream outing in triple jump at CWG 2022, with Eldhose Paul (17.03m) and Aboobacker (17.02m) achieving an unprecedented Indian 1-2 finish.
Meanwhile, shot putter Samardeep Singh Gill punched his ticket to his first CWG with a throw of 20.46m while national record holder Tajinderpal Toor finished second with 20.07m. The CWG cut-off was 20.36m. Gill, 25, was coming off a win at Indian Open Athletics Series 1 in Bengaluru last month.
Hurdlers Yashas P of Karnataka and Santhosh Kumar T of NCOE Trivandrum breached the CWG qualifying mark (50.27s) in the men’s 400m hurdles. Yashas won with a time of 49.00s and Santhosh clocked 49.06s.
