Manju Rani wins women’s 35km race walk but fails to qualify for Asiad
Bhubaneswar. National record holder Manju Rani of Punjab won the women’s 35 km race walk at the National Inter-Provincial Athletics Championship but fell short of the Asian qualifying mark. Rani, 24, completed the race in three hours 21 minutes and 31 seconds in extreme heat and humidity. Asian Games qualifying mark 2: 58. 30 is He clocked 2:58.30 in the Indian race walking championship in February. Haryana’s Junaid Khan clocked 3:37 to win the men’s event but fell short of the Asian Games qualifying mark of 2:35.
National record holder Ram Babu did not participate in this tournament. He won the title in Ranchi by clocking two hours 31 minutes 36 seconds. In the women’s 400m semi-finals, four players shot 52. Crossed the Asian Games qualifying mark of 96 seconds. Anjali Devi of Haryana scored 52. Took 03 seconds. Vidya Raj (52.43) of Tamil Nadu was second, Himanshi Malik (52.46) of Haryana third and Aishwarya Mishra (52.73) of Maharashtra was fourth.
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In the men’s category, Muhammad Ajmal (45.51) of Kerala broke the tournament record, while Kerala’s own national record holder Muhammad Anas (45.51) broke the tournament record. Finished second in the semi-final heat, clocking 63 seconds. Srabani Nanda of Odisha scored 11. Taking a time of 69 seconds, entered the women’s 100 meters final. Jyoti Yaraji 11. Made it to the final with 72 seconds.
