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India Today
a day ago
- Sport
- India Today
Annu Rani, Animesh Kujur steal the show in electrifying Indian Continental Tour
An electrifying Kalinga Stadium brought the 1st Indian Continental Tour to life on Sunday, August 10. Such was the decibel meter in Bhubaneshwar that the start of the men's 100m sprint, the crown jewel of any athletics event, had to be reset thrice. Every time the sprinters were ready to explode out of the blocks, they were pulled back into their markers by unmissable cheers from the turned up in good numbers despite the sweltering afternoon heat, which made life difficult not only for the athletes but for the spectators as well. Indian athletes set the tone from the very start of the event, keeping the audience on their feet. The crowd, composed mostly of school and college students from more than 10 institutions in the city, had a gala time in the first-of-its-kind event in the competition started in hot conditions at 4 PM IST. Vishal TK, India's 400m specialist, won the gold medal in style, hitting 45.72 seconds, not far from his all-time best of 45.57, which came in Korea earlier this year. Once Vishal set the tone, Annu Rani took over the scene. Fresh off her sensational performance in Poland, where she registered her first 60+ metre throw in over a year (62.59m), Annu led the field within her first three attempts, hitting a strong throw in Bhubaneshwar will do a world of good to the 32-year-old, who has seen a form slump over the past year. While Annu lit up the women's javelin, her counterparts in the men's event failed to starboy Sachin Yadav, one of the favourites to win the men's event, was stunned by Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage, who secured direct qualification for the World Championships in Tokyo. Rumesh, who had bagged a bronze medal at the Neeraj Chopra Classic last month, improved his performance by over two metres to clinch the gold. His 86.50-metre throw left the Indian contingent far behind. Maharashtra's Shivam Lokhare, just 20 years old, finished second with a distance of 80.73m. Courtesy: Kingshuk Kusari While javelin was expected to be the star of the show, the loudest cheers came in the final hour of the event, when hometown favourite Animesh Kujur lined up for the men's 200m who had hoped to clock close to his personal best, put in a blistering run of 20.77 seconds to win gold with relative ease. After the race, he stayed back to entertain the crowd with a trademark Usain Bolt celebration — a fitting tribute to the man he earlier had voluntarily DNFed himself from the 100m competition, as he did not finish the heats on Sunday morning. While an explanation was not given behind the move it was perhaps the fact that he did not want to run four times in the humid conditions of Bhubaneshwar after a long and tiring athlete will be running in one more competition in Indian this season (Inter State tournament), and after that, head straight into the World Championships in Tokyo. Courtesy: Kingshuk Kusari As curtains fall on the 1st Indian Continental Tour, the organisers will be pleased with the level of efficiency and enthusiasm they managed to generate. If India hopes to host a World Athletics Championship or even the Olympics one day, events like these are just the beginning. The next step will be to not only repeat them, but to raise the bar with each edition.- Ends
India Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- India Today
Animesh Kujur is the greatest Indian sprinter by far: World Athletics vice-president
Former sprinter and World Athletics body's vice president Adille Sumariwalla has praised Animesh Kujur as the best sprinter India has ever produced. Speaking at the pre-tournament press conference before the Indian Continental Tour, Sumariwalla said that the Athletics Federation of India had high hopes for the 22-year-old in the coming born in Chhattisgarh, will return to his training ground on Sunday, when he competes in the 1st Indian Continental Tour, a bronze-level event. The sprinter is coming back off a tiring season in Europe, where he took part in multiple competitions, including the Monaco Diamond League and the World University a personal best of 10.18 seconds in the 100m sprint and 20.32 seconds in the 200m, he is already India's fastest man. Kujur will be one of the star attractions of the international tournament, which will see over 90 Indian athletes participating. 'As a sprinter myself, I can tell you he's the best sprinter India has ever produced — by far. We always said we're looking for a six-foot sprinter. We found one. He's got great acceleration,' Sumariwalla, who has also been the Athletics Federation of India president in the past, told India backed Kujur to break the 10-second barrier (100m) in the future.'I have no doubt he can run 10 seconds flat. He manages the last part of the race brilliantly. If he gets a better start, I'm confident he'll hit that mark,' Sumariwalla Sachin aiming personal bestsThe sprinter himself was present at the press conference alongside Sumariwalla and other officials. The soft-spoken sprinter said that his goal was to be around his personal best mark, after what has been a tiring is expected to qualify for the World Athletics Championships final through the ranking system. This is expected to be one of his last events before he goes into training and recovers before the summit clash in Tokyo.'I want to be around my personal best (20.32 in 200m). I was very, very tired when I was in Europe. We ran in a lot of competitions, and the weather gave me trouble,' Kujur Kujur sat the unmissable Sachin Yadav, who has drawn a lot of attention as the next big thing in Indian javelin after Neeraj Chopra. The athlete was not able to finish on the podium at the recently concluded Neeraj Chopra Classic. Kujur and Sachin are aiming to put up a show at the Continental tour (Image credit: Kingshuk Kusari) Sachin revealed that he had twisted his ankle in his very first throw in Bengaluru that night and was not able to give his best in the rest of the will have the familiar name of Rumesh Pathirage as his competition. The 22-year-old Pathirage shocked the crowd in Bengaluru that night by claiming the bronze medal behind Neeraj and the veteran Julius it might just be the competition that spurs Sachin back into his very best. The Indian star is already in the mood. Brimming with steely confidence, Sachin said ahead of the competition that he wanted to break his personal best in best is 85.16m. If he breaches 86m, he will get one step closer to Neeraj, who is still the gold standard in Indian javelin.A top showing from Kujur and Sachin on Sunday could shift the gears of Indian sporting put it best.'I keep telling people: when you hold a meet here, and the general public comes to watch, that's when you start building a sporting culture. You don't make champions overnight. Otherwise, you'll only get one Neeraj (Chopra) once in a few generations.'And that is what Sunday represents — a glimpse of what India can become if more champions are born not by chance, but by a system that supports them from start to finish.- Ends
