Vijaya sets stage alight

Bengaluru: The 3km walk from Gowdanahalli village in Mandya to her school everyday was just one of the many hardships Vijayakumari had to face and every time she competed, the young girl had no option but to run barefoot.

Many young talents succumb to hardships but this sprightly teenager, daughter of a poor sugarcane farmer, never allowed it to come in the way of her dreams. On a cool Thursday afternoon at the Sree Kanteerava stadium, Vijaya showed commendable resolve to storm her way to the 400 metres gold (U-18) at the National Junior Athletics Championships.

On the third day of the five-day meet here, the Sports Authority of India ward, paced the quartermile well. Starting on the inner track, she made her move at the halfway bend and accelerated in the final stretch leaving no room for her nearest competitor Shaharbana to catch up.

Vijaya, 17, who trains under coach Y. Lakshmishah, turned in her best time of 56.75 seconds to clam the top honour.

This is the second year pre-university student's second gold this year, having claimed the gold at the National Youth meet at Guntur in May .

Apart from Vijaya's heartwarming performance, the hosts also collected two silver medals and a bronze on the day .

S. Praneetha Pradeep, the 17-year-old from Bengaluru turned in her best perform s ance of 5.88 metres to take home the silver in the girls a U-18 long jump. Emerging talent Toommy Vaishnavi, e who along with Praneetha trains under veteran coach V.R. Beedu, also claimed a silver in the U-14 long jump with an effort of 5.24 metres.

This was the 13-year-old's second medal of the event, having clinched the triathlon gold on the open ing day .

The state's other medal came in the girls U-18 pole vault event, with Pavithra clearing 2.60M to claim the bronze after Kerala duo of Shani Shaji and Reshma Raveendran shared the top spot with identical clear ance of three metres. Four meet records bettered It was a happy day for record hunters, as four national records and three meet marks were bettered.

Haryana's 15-year-old Sahil Mahabali came up with a record leap of 7.27 metres to claim the U-16 boys long jump gold, sailing past the record of 7.19 set by Vineet VS in 2005.

In the same division, West Bengal's Chandan Bauri showed his class, claiming the 400M crown in 48.24 seconds, which was 0.9 seconds better than the national mark.

The other record-breakers on the day were Mahashri Baloda (girls U14, shot put), Sanchay Kumar Paul (girls U-14, 100M), Sachin (boys' U-20 discus throw), M.K. Sinju Prakash (boys' U-20 pole vault) and Husandeep Singh (boys' U-20, 100 M).

Results BOYS U­20: Discus Throw: 1. Sachin (Har) 56.72M (NMR), 2. Dilyogi (UP) 51.59M, 3. Monty Dhankai (Del) 50.99M; 10000M: Vinay Kumar(MP) 48:59.85, 2. Manoj Yadav (Bih) 49:38.42, 3. Kishore .P (Ker) 49:44.06; 400M: 1. Sumit Malik (HP) 47.31 sec, Lalit Mathur (Del) 47.94, 3. Kamberdeep Singh (Pun) 48.16; 100M: 1. Husandeep Singh (Chd) 10.59, 2. Robin. R (Ker) 10.68, 3.
Ashok Yadav (UP) 10.74.
U­18: 400M: 1. A. Dharun (TN) 48.24, 2. M. Kiran (TN) 49.01, 3.
Sandhu Sukumaran (Ker) 49.25; 100M: 1. B. Karthikeyan (Pondi) 10.95, 2. Ch.Sudhakar (AP) 10.99, 3.
Sowmyadeep Sai (WB) 11.03sec.
U­16: 5000M walk: 1. Vijay (Har) 22:56.54, 2. Eknath Shamha (Del) 23:07.49, 3. Aneesh A (Ker) 23:42.04; Long Jump: Sahil Mahabali (Har) 7.27M (N.R, OR: 7.19M), 2.
Devuraj (Ker) 7.07M, 3. M. Jeeva (TN) 6.90M; 100M: M.S Arun (TN) 11.06, 2. Bhoite Kshitij (Mah) 11.13, 3. G. Ayyappa Prasad (AP) 11.26; 400M: Chandan Baur (WB) 48.24 (NR, OR: 49.14), 2. Devender (Jhar) 49.28, 3. Baljeet (Har) 49.45.
U­14: Shot Put: 1. Sourav (Har) 15.94M, 2. Abhijeet Rajesh Nair (Mah) 14.29M, 3. Sahil Gaba (Pun) 13.97M; 100M: 1. Sanchay KR (WB) 11.14 (NR, OR: 11.42), 2. Bikram Murmu (Ori) 11.47, 3. Sudesh Gurjar (MP) 11.53; High Jump: Anandhu K.S (Ker) 1.84M, 2.
Sahanawaj (Del) 1.82M, 3. Varun Fakara (UP) 1.82M.
Girls: U­20: Javelin Throw: Kumari Sharmila (Har) 46.34M, Prajitha C.K (Ker) 44.79M, 3. Sangeeta Choudhary (Raj) 40.67M; Pole Vault: Sinju Prakash M.K (Ker) 3.40M (NMR, OR: 3.30M), 2. Emitha Babu (Ker) 3M. 400M: 1. Jisha.V.V (Ker) 56.94, 2. P. Iniya (TN) 57.22, 3.
Arunima P.M (Ker) 57.79; 100M: 1.
Archana.S (TN) 11.81, 2. Ruma Sarkar (WB)12.04, 3. Rengitha.C (Ker) 12.12; Triple Jump: 1. Bhairabi Roy (WB) 12.34M, 2. M.A Siva Anbaf (TN) 12.31M, 3. Kairi Purty (Bih) 12.29M; U­18: Pole Vault: 1. Shani Shaji (Ker), Reshma Raveendran (Ker) 3.00M, 3. Pavithra (Kar) 2.60M; Long Jump: G. Karthika (TN) 6.03M, 2. S. Praneetha Pradeep (Kar) 5.88M, 3. V. Akshaya Sonasri (TN) 5.66M; 400M: 1. Vijayakumari (Kar) 56.75, 2. Shaharbana (Ker) 57.28, 3. Neethu Sabu (Ker) 58.49; 100M: 1. Sunita Pal (UP) 12.20, 2.
Mamta Hulke (Mah) 12.24, 3.
Nithyamol (Ker) 12.42; Hammer Throw: Lakxay Sharm (Del) 47.53M, 2. S. Srinithi (TN) 45.44M, 2. Monika (Har) 44.80M.
U-16: 400M: 1. Tiasha Samadder (WB) 57.40, 2. R.Vithya (TN) 58.73, 3. Nidhi (Mah) 59.58; High Jump: Anju Babu (Ker) 1.60M, 2. Laimwn Narzary (Ass) 1.53M, 3. Ritu (Har) 1.50M; 100M: 1. V. Tamil Selvi (TN ) 12.53, 2. Siddhi Hirey (Mah) 12.54, 3. K. Ramalakshmi (TN) 12.60.
U­14: Long Jump: 1. S. Samyuktha (TN) 5.32M, 2. Toommy Vaishnavi (Kar) 5.24M, 3. Anjaly Thomas (Ker) 5.14M: Shot Put: 1. Mahashri Baloda (Del) 11.63M (NR, OR: 11.01M), 2. Kavitha Goswami (Del)10.69M, 3. J. Elakeya (TN) 10.34M; 100M: 1. S. Lithiya (TN) 12.99, 2. Rajashree Prasad (WB) 13.10, 3. Antima Kumari (Bih) 13.25.