Amiya, Ranjita picked for World Youth Athletics

Promising Orissa sprinters Amiya Kumar Mallick and Ranjita Mahanta have been selected to represent India in the 6th IAAF World Youth Athletics Championships to be held at Bressanone in Italy from July 8 to 12. Bhubaneswar teenager Amiya will compete in boys’ 200 metre event, while Ranjita of Sundargarh will feature in girls’ 100 metre sprint. The duo along with eight other athletes were chosen by Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on the basis of their medal-winning performance in the National Youth Championship held at Madurai (Tamil Nadu) a month ago. Amiya, 17, won the boys’ 200m gold, clocking 21.93 seconds. In the process, he set a new meet record, bettering the previous timing of 22.23 secs taken by Amreek Rana (UP). State Sports Hostel trainee Ranjita, 16, claimed the girls’ 100m gold with a timing of 12.38 seconds. Indian team: Boys: Amiya Kumar Mallick (200m), Ankit Sharma (long jump), Arpinder Singh (triple jump), Gurwant Singh (shot put), Prabhjot Singh (discus), Kirpal Singh (discus). Girls: Ranjita Mahanta (100m), G Mounica (200m), Aswathi Mohanan (400m), C Arya (400m).