Bengaluru: India's star sprinter Hima Das clinched the gold medal in the women's 200m while Murali Sreeshankar topped the podium in the high jump at the Indian Grand Prix 3 2023 athletics meet in Bengaluru, Karnataka on Monday.
The duo, however, fell agonisingly short of breaching the qualifying standards for the Asian Games 2023.
Rubina Yadav of India, who competed in the high jump, took home the gold medal despite failing to meet the requirements for the upcoming continental championships, which will take place in Hangzhou, China later this year.
Rubina Yadav breached the Athletics Federation of India's 1.80-metre mark for the women's high jump event qualification level with a jump of 1.81 metres (AFI).
Jyothi Yarraji also qualified for the Asian Games in the 100m hurdles. The national record holder (12.82 seconds) finished the race in a time of 13.44 seconds. At the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, she beat the qualifying standard of 13.63 seconds.
Tejas Shirse and Ragul Kumar scripted personal bests. Tejas took part in the Men's 110m Hurdles and Ragul in Men's 400m Run.
"Tejas got a personal best in the hurdles, which I was delighted with because he raced against a strong headwind. Ragul Kumar got a personal best in the 400m race. Being a 200m athlete, we wanted to try him out the 400m race today, to see how he fares in a longer race," James Hillier, Director of Athletics, Reliance Foundation said in an official press release.
Murali Sreeshankar, who competed in the men's long jump for the first time since the National Games last year due to an injury, recorded a number of leaps over 7 metres and took home the gold medal with a best effort of 7.94 metres. He fell short of the 7.95m minimum height requirement for the Asian Games. Hima Das won the 200-meter race for women.
Amlan Borgohain won the men's 100m gold with a time of 10.50s. He also topped the charts in the men's 200m event with a time of 21.20s. In the 400m hurdles, Tokyo Olympian Jabir Madari Palliyalil topped the podium with a time of 51.61s.
The third Indian Grand Prix saw several top athletes give the event a miss. Long jumpers Jeswin Aldrin and Muhammed Anees Yahiya skipped the meet. Also missing the start list were men's 400m runners like Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Amol Jacob and Noah Nirmal Tom.
The Reliance Foundation athletes will also be competing at the Indian Grand Prix 4 on April 15, 2023 at the same venue. (ANI)
