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Deccan Herald
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Deccan Herald
Kujur, Sreeshankar, Annu shine
Star sprinter Animesh Kujur, veteran javelin thrower Annu Rani, and long jump ace Murali Sreeshankar lived up to expectations by winning their respective events at India's maiden World Athletics Continental Tour competition here on Sunday. The bronze level event went off smoothly but the quality of competitions did not rise to any great heights. There was drama in store for Kujur. The 22-year-old pulled up after a few paces in his men's 100m heat race in the morning. He then came out to run his 200m heat half an hour later and qualified for the final with a time of 20.99 seconds. In the evening, he ran 20.77 seconds in the 200m final to win the gold. Ko Seunghwan of Korea (20.95 seconds) and Indian Ragul Kumar (21.17 seconds) were second and third respectively. Kujur, representing Odisha, holds national records in both 100m (10.18 seconds) and 200m (20.32 seconds). Sreeshankar, representing JSW, was up against rising teenager Shahnavaz Khan, who won gold in the Uttarakhand National Games in February. The 17-year-old Khan was leading with his fourth round jump of 8.04m, while Sreeshankar was second with 7.95m. But the 26-year-old produced 8.13m in his final attempt to take the gold in dramatic fashion for his fourth title in a row since coming back from a long injury lay-off. He is, however, yet to breach the Tokyo World Championships direct entry mark of 8.27m. In women's javelin, Asian Games champion Annu Rani bagged the gold with a fourth round throw of 62.01m, thereby strengthening her chances of making it to the Tokyo World Championships in September. The men's javelin event disappointed the crowd at the Kalinga Stadium as the Indian participants barely crossed the 80m mark. India's 20-year-old Shivam Lohakare, the latest entrant in the 80m club at the Indian Open Athletics Meet in Pune last month with 80.95m, took the silver with 80.73m.
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First Post
11 hours ago
- Sport
- First Post
Indian Open Highlights: Annu dominates women's javelin throw, Kujur recovers from 100m setback to win 200m gold
Annu Rani thoroughly dominated women's javelin throw, being the only competitor to cross the 60-metre mark and doing so twice. National record-holder Animesh Kujur, meanwhile, recovered from a DNF in the 100m heats to win the men's 200m event. read more Annu Rani and Animesh Kujur were among the standout performers at the Indian Open World Athletics Bronze meet that took place in Bhubaneswar on Sunday, 10 August. Image: AP/PTI Annu Rani and Animesh Kujur were among the standout performers in the 2025 Indian Open, the World Athletics bronze meet that took place in Bhubaneswar on Sunday, shining in women's javelin and men's 200m respectively. Murali Sreeshankar, meanwhile, staved off tough competition to win gold in the men's long jump event in his final attempt. Annu only one to cross 60m in women's javelin throw Annu thoroughly dominated the women's javelin throw, crossing the 60-metre mark twice on Sunday at the Kalinga Stadium, which was nearly packed for the event, clinching gold with a best throw of 62.01 metres. None of her rivals came close, with Sri Lanka's NDL Hatarabag collecting silver with a best effort of 56.27m and Deepika winning bronze with 54.20m. As for men's javelin throw, Sri Lanka's Rumesh Pathirage took home the gold medal with his opening throw of 86.50m, which not only is a new Sri Lankan national record but also helped him achieve the qualification mark of 85.50m for the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD India's Shivam Lohakare collected silver with a best effort of 80.73m, finishing marginally ahead of Pathirage's compatriot Sumedha J Ranasinghe (80.65m). As for men's long jump, Sreeshankar was the standout athlete with a best leap of 8.13m in his final attempt. Uttar Pradesh's Shahnawaz Khan gave Sreeshankar, who was part of the Indian contingent at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, tough competition as he finished second with a best leap of 8.04m. Khan was the only one to cross the 8-metre mark until Sreeshankar's final attempt denied him gold. More from Sports Donald Trump claims India is a 'tariff king'. What the data reveals Kujur recovers from setback to win 200m gold Kujur, who had made headlines by finishing fourth in the U-23 200m event at the Monaco Diamond League recently, overcame a setback in the men's 100m race to win gold in 200m. National record holder Kujur was marked Did Not Finish (DNF) in the 100m heats, with Malaysia's Muhammad Azeem Fahimi going on to win the signature event with a timing of 10.35 seconds – ahead of Sri Lanka's Chamod Yodhasingh (10.43s) and compatriot Danish Iftikhar (10.50s). Kujur bounced back in the 200m race, where he won gold with an impressive timing of 20.77 seconds, ahead of South Korea's Ko Seunghwan (20.95s) and India's Raguk Kumar G (21.17s). 'It's the first time I've seen such a crowd for athletics here, and it did add a bit of pressure. I knew I had to deliver for them,' Kujur was quoted by RevSportz as saying after the race. At the inaugural Indian Open #WorldAthletics Continental Tour Bronze Level meet, our athletes lit up the track and field with stellar performances across events. Here's how they performed. Take a look👇🏻 TOPS athlete Vishal T K : 1st in Men's 400m, clocking 45.72s & completing… — SAI Media (@Media_SAI) August 11, 2025 STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Full list of results at the 2025 Indian Open in Bhubaneshwar Men 100m: Muhammad Azeem Bin (Malaysia) – 10.35s; Chamod M Yodhasing (Sri Lanka) – 10.43s; Danish Iftikhar (Malaysia) – 10.50s 200m: Animesh Kujur (Odisha, IND) – 20.77s; Ko Seunghwan (Korea) – 20.95s; Raguk Kumar G (Tamil Nadu, IND) – 21.17s 400m: Vishal TK (NCOE Trivandrum, IND) – 45.72s; Amoj Jacob (NCOE Trivandrum, IND) – 45.86s; Santhosh Kumar T (Tamil Nadu, IND) – 46.89s 800m: Mohammad Afsal (Air Force, IND) – 1:46.60; Prakash Gadade (Maharashtra, IND) – 1:47.14; Krishan Kumar (Haryana, IND) – 1:48.00 5000m: Waberi Igueh Houssein (Djibouti) – 14:05.36; Abhishek Pal (Railway, IND) – 14:10.60; Sawan Barwal (Army, IND) – 14:13.41 Triple Jump: Abdulla Aboobacker (Air Force, IND) – 16.53m; Karthik Unnikrishnan (Air Force, IND) – 16.42m; Gailey V (Tamil Nadu, IND) – 16.26m STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Long Jump: Murali Sreeshankar (JSW, IND) – 8.13m; Shahnavaz Khan (Uttar Pradesh, IND) – 8.04m; Lokesh Sathyanathan (Karnataka, IND) – 7.85m Javelin Throw: Rumesh Tharanga P (Sri Lanka) – 86.50m; Shivam Lohakare (Maharashtra, IND) – 80.73m; Sumedha J Ranasinghe (Sri Lanka) – 80.65m 4x400m Relay: Sri Lanka – 3:00.22; India A (Santhosh Kumar T, Vishal TK, Amoj Jacob, D Choudhary) – 3:08.37; Iraq – 3:08.74 Women 100m: Abinaya Rajarajan (NCOE Trivandrum, IND) – 11.57s; Sneha SS (Karnataka, IND) – 11.70s; Nithya Gandhe (Telangana, IND) – 11.70s 200m: Angel Silvia M (NCOE Bengaluru, IND) – 23.95s; Nithya Gandhe (Telangana, IND) – 24.11s; Unnathi Aiyappa (Karnataka, IND) – 24.56s 400m: Vijaykumari GK (Karnataka, IND) – 53.40s; Devyaniba Zala (Gujarat, IND) – 53.87s; Louise Evans (Great Britain) – 54.28s 800m: Amandeep Kaur (Punjab, IND) – 2:04.31; Huidrom B (IOCL, IND) – 2:06.96; Thota Sankeertana (Chhattisgarh, IND) – 2:07.17 1500m: Pooja (Haryana, IND) – 4:15.13; Lili Das (Uttar Pradesh, IND) – 4:17.66; Amandeep Kaur (Punjab, IND) – 4:27.14 STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 100m Hurdles: Pragyan Prashanti Sahu (Odisha, IND) – 13.74s; Nandhini K (Tamil Nadu, IND) – 13.80s; Anjali C (Kerala, IND) – 14.00s Javelin Throw: Annu Rani (Uttar Pradesh, IND) – 62.01m; Hatarabag Lekamalage (Sri Lanka) – 56.27m; Deepika (Haryana, IND) – 54.20m Long Jump: Shaili Singh (Uttar Pradesh, IND) – 6.28m; Bhavani Yadav (Railway, IND) – 6.13m; Sandra Babu (JSW, IND) – 6.10m
Time of India
17 hours ago
- Sport
- Time of India
Still working on angle and runup for Worlds, Annu Rani claims title amid huge cheers
Annu Rani (Pic credit: Sanjib Das) BHUBANESWAR: Annu Rani is eyeing her fifth appearance at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo next month, and there was no better way to prepare for it than winning the title at the World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze level meet at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! Coming into the tournament having won the title last week at the 8th International Wieslaw Maniak Memorial meet in Szczecin, Poland, with a throw of 62.59m – her first 60m-plus throw in over a year – she was quite confident of delivering and did not disappoint. She started with 52.74m and then followed it up with throws of 58.65m and 58.39m. But with the crowd cheering her on, she dug deep into her reserves and delivered a throw of 62.01m that helped her finish on top of the leaderboard. Poll Which event do you think Annu Rani should focus on to maximize her chances of success? Javelin Technique Strength Training Mental Preparation All of the Above In the remaining two attempts, she tried hard to hit the automatic World qualifying mark of 64m but fell short. However, she did cross the 60m-mark once again in her fifth attempt with a throw of 61.01m. As for her last throw, it read 59.02m. Speaking about her performance, she sounded more than pleased and said, 'After travelling back from Poland, there was a lot fatigue but I'm really happy that despite that I was able to cross the 60m-mark twice.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like This new air conditioner cools down a room in just seconds News of the Discovery Undo Irrespective of her current showing, the Asian Games gold medallist is well aware that she will need to work on two major areas to better her best performance, which currently stands at 63.82m. 'Whenever I throw the javelin, it's usually at a high angle so I will have to keep it front on. The other area is my runup. I will have to make it fast and smooth,' said Rani, who trained in Europe for about three weeks to better prepare ahead of the Worlds. While it was a fruitful outing, she sadly didn't have her coach – Sergey Makarov of Russia – by her side because of visa issues. However, she didn't let it affect her and concentrated on her improvement. However, her coach was here in Bhubaneswar and made sure his pupil gave her best. He kept speaking with her in between the throws and it seemed to make all the difference. 'I was getting a bit aggressive and wasn't concentrating on the throws so he kept telling me to calm down and relax,' added Rani, who had also trained beside German javelin thrower Johannes Vetter for a while. It was natural for her to get a bit worked up as the packed stadium shouted their lungs out all throughout her event. 'I've never enjoyed competing as much as I did here. At times, I was feeling a bit of pressure but I got a lot of love from all the people and that helped me in the end,' said the 32-year-old. And this performance has now given her motivation to do even better at the Worlds, where she believes she can make throws of 64m or even 65m. She, however, is unlikely to compete at the inter-state nationals to get some much-required rest ahead of the big event in Sept. This after all has been quite a hectic season for her. Besides winning the title in Poland, she also competed at Taiwan Athletics Open and won with a throw of 56.82m. However, she just missed the podium during the Asian Athletics Championships despite throwing 58.30m. Hopefully, the rest over the next few weeks will now help her to be in prime form ahead of the Tokyo meet. Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
New Indian Express
a day ago
- Sport
- New Indian Express
Javelin ace Annu confident of securing spot in Tokyo Worlds
BHUBANESWAR: Javelin ace Annu Rani used her experience to capture the top prize at the World Athletics Bronze-Level Continental Tour at the Kalinga Stadium here on Sunday. The 32-year-old claimed the No 1 spot with an effort of 62.01. Rani, the 2022 Asian Games gold medallist, is naturally stoked with her effort. This is her second successive 60m-plus throw in a span of a few days. The national record holder from Uttar Pradesh had thrown a distance of 62.59m to capture the title at the World Athletics Continental Tour bronze level meet just a few days back. "I'm happy with my performance today (Sunday), though my first throw was 52.74m, but gradually in my fourth attempt I touched 62.01m. My 60m-plus throw earlier this week (August 6) in Europe has given a big boost to my confidence," Annu said.
Mint
a day ago
- Sport
- Mint
Indian Open 2025 World Athletics Continental Tour: Murali Sreeshankar, Annu Rani top podium in Bhubaneswar
Veteran javelin thrower Annu Rani and long jump ace Murali Sreeshankar lived up to expectations on Sunday by winning their respective events at India Open 2025 World Athletics Continental Tour in Bhubaneswar. The bronze level event went off smoothly but the quality of competitions did not rise to any great heights. Sreeshankar was up against rising teenager Shahnavaz Khan, who won gold in Uttarakhand National Games in February. The 17-year-old Khan was leading with his fourth round jump of 8.04m, while Sreeshankar was second with 7.95m. But the 26-year-old Sreeshankar produced 8.13m in his final attempt to take the gold in dramatic fashion for his fourth title in a row since coming back from a long injury lay-off. He is, however, yet to breach the Tokyo World Championships direct entry mark of 8.27m. Khan became the latest entrant to the 8m club in the Indian men's long jump. His earlier best was 7.90m. In women's javelin, Asian Games champion Annu Rani bagged the gold with a fourth round throw of 62.01m, thereby strengthening her chances of making it to the Tokyo World Championships in September. Rani, representing Uttar Pradesh, had another 60m-plus throw -- a 61.01m in her fifth attempt -- as she continued her good form. Before Sunday, the 32-year-old was on 30th spot in the Road to Tokyo list after her season's best of 62.59m in Poland on August 6. Thirty-six athletes are to compete in the women's javelin throw event in Tokyo. She is yet to breach the automatic qualification mark of 64m. On Wednesday, she registered her first 60m-plus throw in more than a year as she won the javelin competition title at the 8th International Wiesław Maniak Memorial meet in Szczecin, Poland. Her national record stands at 63.82m, which she achieved in 2022. Meanwhile, star sprinter Animesh Kujur won gold in the men's 200m. The 22-year-old pulled up after a few paces in his men's 100m heat race in the morning. He then came out to run his 200m heat half an hour later and qualified for the final with a time of 20.99 seconds. In the evening, he ran 20.77 seconds in the 200m final to win the gold. Ko Seunghwan of Korea (20.95 seconds) and another Indian Ragul Kumar (21.17 seconds) were second and third respectively. Kujur, representing Odisha, holds national records in both 100m (10.18 seconds) and 200m (20.32 seconds).
