BHUBANESWAR 22-Jun-2015 34
Ace Odisha sprinter Srabani Nanda continued her good form to pick up the women’s 100m bronze, clocking 11.58 secs in the first leg of the Asian Grand Prix Athletics Series at Bangkok today. This was the second international medal of the month for Srabani, following her 200m bronze in the 21st Asian Championships at Wuhan in China.
Middle-distance runner Jinson Johnson and ace shot putter Inderjit Singh struck gold as India bagged a total of eight medals in the one-day meet. Other six medals included one silver and five bronze. Johnson won the men’s 800m title, clocking 1:48.52, while reigning Asian champion Inderjit lived up to his reputation with a throw of 19.83 metres. Long jumper Ankit Sharma claimed the lone silver with a leap of 7.78 metres.
Other four bronze medals for India were secured by MR Poovamma, Arokya Rajiv, Gayathry Govindraj and M Gomathi. Poovamma finished third in women’s 400m race, clocking 53.51 secs, while men’s quarter-miler Rajiv did an encore with a timing of 46.86 secs. Govindraj clocked 13.72 secs in the women’s 100m hurdles, while Gomathi finished with a timing of 2:07.48 in the women’s 800m race.
Indian 4x100m men and women relay teams, featuring Odisha duo Amiya Kumar Mallick and Srabani Nanda, failed to finish the race due to overshooting the baton exchange. The first leg of the Asian GP, which featured 14 events, will be followed by the second leg at Pathum on June 25 and third leg at Chanthaburi on June 29.
A 24-member squad, including 11 women, is representing India in the Thailand GP Series, which offers prize money to individual medallists (USD 1,500 for gold, 800 for silver and 500 for bronze). But athletes are required to participate in all three legs to be eligible for prize money.
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PHOTO: Odisha woman sprinter Srabani Nanda
