BHUBANESWAR 13-Jul-2015
A six-member Odisha squad bagged a total of six medals to finish eighth in the 55th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championship that concluded at J N Stadium in Chennai today. The medals included three gold, two silver and one bronze.
Woman sprinter Srabani Nanda played stellar role for Odisha, winning the 200m gold with a timing of 23.92 secs. Maintaining her recent run of success, Srabani also helped Odisha claim the gold in women`s 4x100m relay. The Odisha quartet with Purnima Hembram, Jauna Murmu and Dutee Chand as other three members, finished the race in 46.20 secs.
Srabani, who had bagged one bronze medal last month at the Asian Grand Prix in Wuhan, missed a sprint double in Chennai Nationals as she was disqualified in the heats due to technical foul start.
Purinima Hembram secured the third gold for Odisha, winning the heptathlon event with 5,444 points. The silver and bronze in this event were claimed by Kerala`s Liksy Joseph and her twin sister Niksy. Incidentally, Liksy had bagged the silver medal in last month`s Asian championship at Wuhan, where Purnima settled with bronze.
The two silver medals for Odisha were pocketed by Amiya Kumar Mallick in men`s 100m sprint (10.58s) and Sarita Singh in woman hammer throw (56.57m). Dutee Chand secured the lone bronze medal in women`s 100m sprint with a timing of 12.10 secs. Odisha missed another medal as Jauna Murmu did not finished the race after reaching the final in women`s 400m run.
ODISHA SQUAD: Amiya Kumar Mallick (100m); Srabani Nanda (100 and 200m); Dutee Chand (100m); Purnima Hembram (heptathlon); Jauna Murmu (400m); Sarita Singh (hammer). Manager-cum-coach: Susanta Roy (SAI).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOTO: Members of Odisha women relay team (L to R) Dutee Chand, Srabani Nanda, Jauna Murmu and Purnima Hembram rejoice after winning gold in Chennai on July 12, 2015.
