Paperman Media ( Bhubaneswar )-Karnataka’s aspiring pole vaulter Sindhushree G was among several athletes who successfully achieved the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games qualification standards in their respective events on the second day of the 65th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships here at Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Stadium on Thursday.
On a day when as many as seventeen athletes achieved Japan Asian Games starting September 19 qualification criteria set by AFI (Athletics Federation of India), Sindhushree, 26, did so in style.
On her way to winning the gold medal, she improved the national record to 4.25m, which was better than the Asian Games qualification mark of 4.10m. The previous record of 4.23m was set recently by Baranica who settled for silver with a height of 4.20m.
Sindhushree also bettered the meet record of 4.10m set by Pavithra Venkatesh in 2023. Jubilant Sindhushree said she was mentally prepared to book an Asian Games berth. “I had trained hard but the national record was a bonus,” says Sindhushree.
Nitika Akare of Madhya Pradesh won the bronze medal (4.10m) and was the third pole vaulter to achieve the Asian Games qualification mark of 4.10m.
The women’s 200m and 800m were two track events of the day in which the top three finishers bettered the Asian Games qualification mark. All three medal winners in women’s shot put also achieved the Asian Games qualification mark.
Odisha’s star sprinter Animesh Kujur was the only athlete in the men’s 200m to achieve the Asian Games mark of 20.88 seconds. His gold medal winning time was 20.74 seconds.
In the highly competitive men’s two-lap race, Mohammed Afsal of Kerala (1:48.57 secs) and Krishan Kumar from Haryana (1:48.82 secs) finished first and second, respectively. Both athletes bettered the Asian Games qualification time of 1:48.80 seconds.
“My goal is to improve my fitness to clock below 1:45 for the 800m in the near future,” says Mohammed Afsal.
