New Delhi:
The Delhi State Open Athletics Championships at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium is witnessing a healthy participation. Athletes have also been drawn by the opportunity to get a feel of new Mondo track there.
In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the organisers allowed athletes from other states to participate. It has attracted competitors from the north-eastern, southern and western regions too, making it a national-level meet. The three-day event (April 3-5) has the participation of around 2,100 athletes.
On the second day of the meet, the men’s 100m featured Amiya Kumar Mallick, who previous national held was 10.26 secs. In a slow but exciting race, Amiya lost to West Bengal’s Rohan Ghosh, who clocked 10.56s. Amiya was second at 10.70secs with Delhi’s Narender third (10.81secs). There were more than 100 entries for the race and 16 preliminary heats were held.
The boys’ U-20 javelin saw good competition. Ashish Yadav of Uttar Pradesh won with a throw of 74.99m, edging ahead of Delhi’s Arjun (71.91m) and UP’s Dipanshu Sharma (67.83m). In the girls’ U-20 section, Asian cross-country medallist Sonam Kumari won the 3000m clocking 10:46.41.
“This championship is truly unique as it has opened its doors to athletes beyond Delhi with strong representation from other regions of the country. It has received an overwhelming response with participation of over 2,000 athletes. The competition has been intense and performances so far have been exceptional,” said Parth Goswami, secretary, Delhi Athletics.
