Flinging it far: Deepika improved her own mark and set a new junior record with a 56.41m throw in women’s javelin
| Photo Credit: File photo: M. VEDHAN
Dipanshu Sharma returned to winning ways at the site of his best performance this year, improving his personal best to win the men’s javelin throw on day one of the Indian Open athletics championships here on Sunday. Junior National record holder Deepika improved her own mark and set a new junior record with a 56.41m throw in women’s javelin.
The 19-year-old Dipanshu’s 76.03m throw bettered his previous best — set at the previous iteration of Indian Open at the same venue in April this year — by a metre. The result also helped Dipanshu return to the Under-20 top-three in the world for the year. It was one of the few highlights of the day, as several prominent names failed to turn up.
Shivam Lokhare, the newest entrant to the 80m club, and Kishore Kumar Jena both did not participate although, interestingly, Jena’s former coach Samarjeet Singh Malhi was among the participants.
More than 900 athletes had sent in their entries, forcing the organisers to make the Indian Open a two-day event, but the number of participants who actually turned up was much less.
The 100m had 14 races with Army’s Rohit Gorkha clocking 10.49 seconds to be the surprise fastest while Uttarakhand’s Prakhar Sharma won the 400m in 47.24 seconds across 12 races.
The men’s 5000m, with 31 initial entries, saw only 11 runners complete and 13, including former champion Abhishek Pal and National Games gold medallist Sawan Barwal, not starting. Anurag Yadav of Gujarat won in 14:33.61.
Among the women, Dhanalakshmi and M.V. Jilna — both former India sprinters and returning from doping suspension — were the only two to go under 12 seconds in the 100m across six races, Dhanalakshmi edging ahead in 11.55 seconds.
Race B saw only three legal finishes, with three disqualifications and Nithya Ramraj not starting.
Himachal Pradesh’s Manisha Kumari bettered her personal best by more than a second to win the 400m in 53.81 seconds
The results (winners only): Men: 100m: Rohit Gorkha (Army, 10.49s), 400m: Prakhar Sharma (Utk, 47.24s), 1500m: Rahul (Del, 3:47.47), 5000m: Anurag Yadav (Guj, 14:33.61), High Jump: Sarvesh Kushare (Mah, 2.26m), Discus Throw: Kirpal Singh (ONGC, 54.65m), Javelin Throw: Dipanshu Sharma (Reliance, 76.03m).
Women: 100m: Dhanalakshmi (TN, 11.55s), 400m: Manisha Kumari (HP, 53.81s), 1500m: Lili Das (Utk, 4:17.48), High Jump: Khyati Mathur (UP, 1.76m), Discus Throw: Seema (JSW, 55.03m), Javelin Throw: Deepika (JSW, 56.41m).
Published – July 27, 2025 08:09 pm IST