36 National Games round up: Rosy Meena Paulraj and Ajith share spotlight with National records

36 National Games :Pole-vaulter Rosy Meena Paulraj (Tamil Nadu) scaled new heights to share the spotlight with Weightlifter and state-mate N Ajith, both rewriting National records in the 36th National Games in Gandhinagar on Saturday.

Rosy Meena Paulraj, 24, who got into a good rhythm, was able to improve her personal best from 4.00m to 4.20m to break VS Surekha’s National as well as National Games records set in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

Ajith broke the National Record in the Clean and Jerk with a lift of 174kg to push National Games record efforts by track and field athletes into the shade.

Long-jumper Jeswin Aldrin (Tamil Nadu) was the biggest winner on the second day of track and field competition at IIT Gandhinagar. He first claimed the National Games record when he leapt to 8.21m effort on his third try. Even as Commonwealth Games medal winner M Sreeshankar passed his last four attempts, Jeswin Aldrin improved to 8.26m on his last attempt.

Shot-putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Services) and 400m runner Muhammed Ajmal (Kerala) also rewrote National marks but the day belonged to weightlifter Ajith.

“I didn’t come here thinking of winning or losing. I just wanted to give a good time and today I could come up with my fastest,” said Jyothi Yarraji, who felt Dutee Chand (sixth) and Hima Das (seventh) may not have been in the best of forms.

Archana Suseendran (Tamil Nadu) and Diandra Valladares (Maharashtra) flanked Jyothi Yarraji on the podium.

Amlan Borgohain, who had pegged the National Games men’s 100m record at 10.28 seconds in the semifinals on Friday, was a tenth of a second slower in the final but he was still clear of the Tamil Nadu pair of VK Elakiyadasan and B Siva Kumar.

The results (finals):

Athletics

Men

100m: 1. Amlan Borgohain (Assam) 10.38 seconds; 2. VK Elakiyadsasan (Tamil Nadu) 10.44; 3. B Siva Kumar (Tamil Nadu) 10.48.

400m: 1. Muhammed Ajmal (Services) 46.29 seconds (New National Games record. Old: 46.30, Amoj Jacob, Gandhinagar, 2022); 2. Rajesh Ramesh (Tamil Nadu) 46.45; 3. Amoj Jacob (Delhi) 46.62.

5000m:  1. Abhishek Pal (Uttar Pradesh) 14:07.25; 2. Kartik Kumar (Services) 14:08.24; 3. Sawan Barwal (Services) 14:10.53.

Long Jump: 1. Jeswin Aldrin (Tamil Nadu) 8.26m (New National Games record. Old: 8.04, Ankit Sharma, Thiruvananthapuram, 2015); 2. M Sreeshankar (Kerala) 7.93; 3. Muhammed Anees Yahiya (Kerala) 7.92.

Shot Put: 1. Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Services) 20.75m (New National Games record. Old: 20.14, Inderjeet Singh, Thiruvananthapuram, 2015); 2. Karanveer Singh (Punjab) 19.17; 3. Inderjeet Singh (Haryana) 18.64.

4x100m Relay: 1. Tamil Nadu (Kathiravan, VK Elakiyadasn, S Jayakumar and B Siva Kumar) 40.01 seconds; 2. Kerala 40.45; 3. Maharashtra 40.67.

Women

100m: 1. Jyothi Yarraji (Andhra Pradesh) 11.51 seconds; 2. Archana Suseendran (Tamil Nadu) 11.55; 3. Diandra Valladares (Maharashtra) 11.62.

400m: 1. Aishwarya Kailash Mishra (Maharashtra) 52.62 seconds; 2. Dandi Jyothikasri (Andhra Pradesh) 53.30; 3. Rupal Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh) 53.41.

5000m: 1. Parul Chaudhary (Uttar Pradesh) 16:34.68; 2. Seema (Himachal Pradesh) 16:36.18; 3. Sanjivani Jadhav (Maharashtra) 16:39.97.

Pole Vault: 1. Rosy Meena Paulraj (Tamil Nadu) 4.20m (New National and National Games record. Old NR: 4.15, VS Surekha, New Delhi, 2014. Old NGR: 4.00, VS Surekha, Thiruvananthapuram, 2015); 2.  Pavitha Vengatesh (Tamil Nadu) 4.00; 3. Baranica Elangovan (Tamil Nadu) 3.90.

Discus Throw: 1. Nidhi Rani (Haryana) 51.65m; 2. Neetika Verma (Uttar Pradesh) 51.58; 3. Paramjot Kaur (Punjab) 51.28.

4x100m relay: 1. Kerala (VS Bhavika, PD Anjali, AP Shilbi and AP Shelda) 45.52 seconds; 2. Tamil Nadu 45.54; Madhya Pradesh 46.03.