Inter-State Athletics: Annu Rani, Animesh Kujur and Sarvesh Kushare claim golds

Chennai: The script remained the same on the fourth day of the Inter-State Athletics Championships, as none of the athletes managed to achieve the World Championships qualifying mark on Saturday. However, a few strengthened their positions in the ‘Road to Tokyo’ standings. Javelin thrower Annu Rani, who came into the inter-state meet on the back of a few good shows, clinched gold after recording 61.05m. While Annu from Uttar Pradesh had struggled to breach the 60m mark over the past year, she has shown glimpses of her old form in recent competitions and is now comfortably placed in the ‘Road to Tokyo’ rankings. “I am saving my best for the World Championships and did not want to peak here. I have competed in three back-to-back events within a month, and I am happy to be consistently throwing over 60m. It is a good sign heading into the Worlds. My coach asked me to participate in more events, and I am working on improving my fitness and speed,” Annu said.Animesh strengthens Worlds spot Odisha's Animesh Kujur (20.63s) continued his dominance by winning men’s 200m gold. With the performance, the 22-year-old is expected to move into the top-40 in the ‘Road to Tokyo’ list, which strengthens his chances of qualification.High jumper Sarvesh wins High jumper Sarvesh Kushare has a chance to secure a berth at the World Championships after his gold-winning performance. The 30-year-old from Maharashtra cleared 2.24m to finish on top. After clearing 2.24m, Sarvesh raised the bar to 2.28m to create a personal-best mark, but he fell short. In women’s 800m, Pooja of Haryana finished first with a time of 2:02.27. However, the performance was not enough to secure her a spot for the Tokyo meet. This is her second gold medal at the inter-state competition. Tamil Nadu’s Vithya Ramraj did not start in women’s 400m hurdles, while Dhanalakshmi earned her third gold medal of the meet. Dhanalakshmi clinched the women’s 200m title by recording 23.53s.