BHUBANESWAR 27-Feb-2018
Odisha bagged one gold, one silver and one bronze medal each in the Indian Grand Prix-1, which was held at NS NIS, Patiala today. Woman sprint star Dutee Chand won the 100 metre gold medal with a time of 11.57 seconds. Parbati Sethi won the silver in women’s discus throw with an effort of 42.58 metre, while Purnima Hembram won the bronze in women’s long jump with a leap of 5.99 metre.
Dutee Chand, who had to take a break from training in January to recuperate from a broken wrist, won the women`s 100m gold, but failed to cross the qualifying mark of 11.26s. Purnima, who is basically a heptathlete, also finished fourth in women’s javelin event with a throw of 43.12 metre. But Odisha’s male sprint star Amiya Kumar Mallick finished fifth in men’s 100m sprint, clocking 10.96 seconds.
Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, long jumper Nayana James and discus thrower Navjeet Kaur Dhillon qualified for the 2018 Commonwealth Games with powerful performances in the day-long Indian GP-1. National record holder Neeraj Chopra predictably won the men`s javelin gold with a throw of 82.88m, enough to make the cut for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
In the women`s discus throw, Navjeet Kaur Dhillon secured her CWG spot with a gold-winning throw of 59.18m. Nayana James clinched the gold with a jump of 6.47m. The jump was enough to help her secure direct qualification for the Gold Coast Games.
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CAPTION: File photo of Odisha woman sprinter Dutee Chand in action.
