Kerala quartermiler Mohammad Anas smashed the national record in men's 400m race on route to winning a gold medal at the third leg of the Indian Grand Prix Athletics Meet in New Delhi on Monday.
The 22-year-old Anas clocked 45.32 seconds under hot and humid conditions at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. He also qualified for the World Championships to be held in London in August. The entry standard for the World Championships stands at 45.50 seconds.
Rajiv Arokia and Sachin Baby were second and third in 46.32 seconds and 47.18 seconds respectively.
Before Monday, Anas had run two national record timings of 45.44 seconds and 45.40 seconds (both of last year) but these are yet to be ratified by the Athletics Federation of India.
The best 400m timing ratified by the Athletics Federation of India is KM Binu’s timing 45.48, which he clocked during the Athens Olympics in 2004.
The Kerala lad broke Milkha Singh’s 44-year-old record of 45.73, which he set during the Rome Olympics in 1960.
It was hot and humid but every time I run I want to better my personal best and so it’s a be national record today. Now, my focus will be to win a medal in the Asian Championships in July (in Bhubaneswar) and do my best in the World Championship.Mohammad Anas
The other highlight of the day was the showdown between the seasoned MR Poovamma of Karnataka and the up and coming youngster Jisna Mathew of Kerala in the women's 400m race.
The 18-year-old Jisna, a protege of legendary PT Usha, had finished second to Poovamma in the second leg on 11 May in Delhi by a hundreth of a second. But on Monday, Jisna upstaged her more fancied rival.
Jisna clocked 52.65 seconds while Poovamma's timing was 52.73 seconds. Debashree Mazumdar of Bengal was third in 53.69 seconds.
The World Championships entry standard in this event is 52.10 seconds.
In women's 100 m dash, Dutee Chand of Odisha clinched the gold but missed the World Championships qualification mark by a whisker. She clocked 11.30 seconds while the World Championship entry standard in this event stands at 11.26 seconds.
Merlin Joseph of Kerala was second in 11.72 seconds while Himanshree Roy of Bengal was third in 11.95 seconds.
In men's javelin throw, Davinder Singh Kang of Punjab, who has already qualified for the World Championships while winning gold in the first leg in Patiala on 7 May, bagged the gold as he cleared a distance of 81.53 m.
Junior world record holder Neeraj Chopra, who has also qualified for the World Championships, skipped the third leg on Monday after winning the gold in the first leg here on 11 May.
Davinder had sent the spear to a distance of 84.57 m in the first leg in Patiala. The World Championships entry standard in this event stands at 83 m.
(With inputs from PTI)
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