National Open athletics | Samardeep upsets Tajinderpal in shot put; Nitin wins race stroll title

Samardeep Gill upset an off-colour Tajinderpal Singh Toor to cap a constant season with the lads’s shot put gold medal within the National Open athletics championships on the Birsa Munda Stadium, Morabadi, right here on Monday.

The 24-year-old from Madhya Pradesh overcame a nervous begin, following a foul, to throw the iron ball past the 18m mark twice earlier than crossing 19m in his final three makes an attempt. His greatest effort, 19.79m, got here in his final effort.

“I used to be not capable of ship my greatest. I had a distinct goal,” mentioned Samardeep, who returned his seventh 19m-plus efficiency, together with his private better of 19.82m on the National inter-state championships in Chennai in August.

Two-time Asian Games gold medallist Tajinderpal, who has skilled a roller-coaster yr, struggled to seek out the facility for a 20m-plus throw. He obtained a silver along with his ultimate effort of 19.32.

Seventeen-year-old Nitin Gupta, an Asian under-18 5000m race stroll silver medallist and the 10000m race stroll National junior champion, impressed on his debut in an elite competitors. He clocked 1:24:22.98 within the humid morning to safe the lads’s 20km race stroll title.

The teenager, who obtained employed with the Army in August after his two-year stint on the Army Boys Sports Company, has set his sights on the Commonwealth Games and the World junior championships subsequent yr.

Railways’ Rohit claimed the excessive leap crown with 2.18m within the absence of Worlds sixth-place finisher Sarvesh Kushare who withdrew on account of a groin concern.

In the lads’s javelin, Shivam Lohakare (76.39m) and Anand Singh (75.46m) earned direct qualification for the finals by crossing 75m.

The outcomes: Finals (winners solely): Men: 4x100m relay: Railways 39.44; 20km race stroll: Nitin Gupta (SSCB) 1:24:22.98; High leap: Rohit (Rlys) 2.18m; Long leap: Mohammed Sazid (Har) 7.78m; Shot put: Samardeep Gill (MP) 19.79m; Hammer: Damneet Singh (Pun) 68.71m.

Women: 4x100m relay: Railways 45.09; 20km race stroll: Munita Prajapati (Rlys) 1:36:14.34; Pole vault: Baranica Elangovan (Rlys) 4.10m; Javelin: Deepika (Har) 54.86m.