Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], June 27 (ANI): Sprinters Unnathi Aiyappa and Amiya Kumar Mallick shared insights on their relay performances and preparations after the 65th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships, where 13 athletes surpassed the Asian Games qualification mark, and six triple jumpers also secured their spots on the third day of competition.
Unnathi Aiyappa, who competes in the 100m and 200m sprint events and is from Karnataka, reflected on her performance in the 4x100m women’s relay, emphasizing the significance of effective baton exchanges.
“I’m a 100-meter and 200-meter sprinter. I’m from Karnataka, and we just finished the 4*100 girls relay…we were very confident with our team because it was a pretty good team. We just needed our baton exchanges to come good, we don’t train together. We just got 1 hour for the warm-up, and we did some two, three baton exchanges. I have qualified for the Asians in the 200 meters. I’m hoping to get a medal at the Asian Games.”
In contrast, experienced sprinter Amiya Kumar Mallick commended the performance of the Odisha 4x100m relay team while noting areas for improvement despite their success.
“At the 2022 event, Odisha’s 4x100m relay team dominated the national competition. It is a fresh team comprising elite athletes; while there were some minor issues with the baton exchange, these can be rectified. We are delighted to have won the gold medal on home turf. We are especially grateful to the Odisha State Government’s Sports Department, the Athletics Federation of India, and the Athletics Association of Odisha. Regarding our target, we had hoped for a specific timing, but that is part of the game. I believe that if the team continues to perform consistently, the desired timing will eventually come. Currently, the national team hasn’t qualified for the Asian Games yet.”
On the third day of the 65th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championship at Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Stadium, six male triple jumpers were among the 13 athletes who met the Asian Games qualification standards in their respective events.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) selection committee will determine the Asian Games-bound contingent following the conclusion of the Bhubaneswar competition, with two athletes set to represent each track and field event.
The evening session began with hammer throwers, where Punjab’s Damneet Singh won gold with a throw of 69.72m, surpassing the Asian Games qualification mark of 69.12m. Rajasthan’s Praveen Kumar secured silver with a distance of 69.58m, also qualifying for the Asian Games.
Following the hammer throw final, a strong performance was observed in the discus throw, where three throwers from Haryana—Seema, Sanya Yadav, and Nidhi—finished in that order, all exceeding the Asian Games qualification mark of 55.48m.
The men’s triple jump was another field event where the top six jumpers achieved the Asian Games qualification mark of 16.28m, with Praveen Chithravel winning gold with an opening jump of 16.92m.
In the track events, national record holder Tejas Shrise comfortably won the men’s 110m hurdles, clocking a time of 13.61 seconds, which is better than the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games qualification time of 13.63 seconds.
In the women’s 400m hurdles heats, Vithya Ramraj of Tamil Nadu recorded a time of 56.69 seconds, keeping her on track for an Asian Games berth.
