Bhubaneswar : Bhubaneswar witnessed an exciting day of athletics as emerging javelin throwers from India and Sri Lanka battled for top honours at the one-day World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meet, held on Sunday at the iconic Kalinga Stadium.
Cheered on by a lively weekend crowd, 22-year-old Rumesh Tharanga from Sri Lanka claimed victory with a massive 86.50m throw, surpassing the World Athletics automatic qualification standard of 85.50m. This throw also improved on his previous career best of 85.45m in 2024, as well as his season’s best of 85.41m.
India’s talented 20-year-old Shivam Lohakare delivered a strong challenge, securing second place with 80.73m, just ahead of Sri Lanka’s Sumedha J Ranasinghe, who came third at 80.65m.
For India, Rohit Yadav (80.35m), Sachin Yadav (79.80m), and Yashvir Singh (78.53m) placed fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively.
In the women’s javelin throw, India’s seasoned star and Asian Games champion Annu Rani maintained her fine form, recording a winning throw of 62.01m. After a moderate start, she found her rhythm in the fourth attempt to seal the top spot. Annu expressed that delivering back-to-back throws of over 62m within a week has significantly boosted her confidence ahead of the World Athletics Championships in September, also noting her satisfaction in crossing the 60m mark again.
At the long jump pit, Murali Sreeshankar impressed with a season-best effort of 8.13m, clinching first place.
Cash rewards were presented to the top four finishers in each event: $800 for the winner, $400 for second, $300 for third, and $200 for fourth.
Final Results
Men’s events
100m: Muhammad Azeem Bin (Malaysia) – 10.35s; Chamod M Yodhasing (Sri Lanka) – 10.43s; Danish Iftikhar (Malaysia) – 10.50s
200m: Animesh Kujur (Odisha–IND) – 20.77s; KO Seunghwan (Korea) – 20.95s; Raguk Kumar G (Tamil Nadu–IND) – 21.17s
400m: Vishal TK (NCOE Trivandrum–IND) – 45.72s; Amoj Jacob (NCOE Trivandrum–IND) – 45.86s; Santhosh Kumar T (Tamil Nadu–IND) – 46.89s
800m: Mohammad Afsal (Air Force–IND) – 1:46.60; Prakash Gadade (Maharashtra–IND) – 1:47.14; Krishan Kumar (Haryana–IND) – 1:48.00
5000m: Waberi Igueh Houssein (Djibouti) – 14:05.36; Abhishek Pal (Railway–IND) – 14:10.60; Sawan Barwal (Army–IND) – 14:13.41
Triple Jump: Abdulla Aboobacker (Air Force–IND) – 16.53m; Karthik Unnikrishnan (Air Force–IND) – 16.42m; Gailey V (Tamil Nadu–IND) – 16.26m
Long Jump: Murali Sreeshankar (JSW–IND) – 8.13m; Shahnavaz Khan (Uttar Pradesh–IND) – 8.04m; Lokesh Sathyanathan (Karnataka–IND) – 7.85m
Javelin Throw: Rumesh Tharanga P (Sri Lanka) – 86.50m; Shivam Lohakare (Maharashtra–IND) – 80.73m; Sumedha J Ranasinghe (Sri Lanka) – 80.65m
4x400m Relay: Sri Lanka – 3:00.22; India A (Santhosh Kumar T, Vishal TK, Amoj Jacob, D Choudhary) – 3:08.37; Iraq – 3:08.74
Women’s events
100m: Abinaya Rajarajan (NCOE Trivandrum–IND) – 11.57s; Sneha SS (Karnataka–IND) – 11.70s; Nithya Gandhe (Telangana–IND) – 11.70s
200m: Angel Silvia M (NCOE Bengaluru–IND) – 23.95s; Nithya Gandhe (Telangana–IND) – 24.11s; Unnathi Aiyappa (Karnataka–IND) – 24.56s
400m: Vijaykumari GK (Karnataka–IND) – 53.40s; Devyaniba Zala (Gujarat–IND) – 53.87s; Louise Evans (Great Britain) – 54.28s
800m: Amandeep Kaur (Punjab–IND) – 2:04.31; Huidrom B (IOCL–IND) – 2:06.96; Thota Sankeertana (Chhattisgarh–IND) – 2:07.17
1500m: Pooja (Haryana–IND) – 4:15.13; Lili Das (Uttar Pradesh–IND) – 4:17.66; Amandeep Kaur (Punjab–IND) – 4:27.14
100m Hurdles: Pragyan Prashanti Sahu (Odisha–IND) – 13.74s; Nandhini K (Tamil Nadu–IND) – 13.80s; Anjali C (Kerala–IND) – 14.00s
Javelin Throw: Annu Rani (Uttar Pradesh–IND) – 62.01m; Hatarabag Lekamalage (Sri Lanka) – 56.27m; Deepika (Haryana–IND) – 54.20m
Long Jump: Shaili Singh (Uttar Pradesh–IND) – 6.28m; Bhavani Yadav (Railway–IND) – 6.13m; Sandra Babu (JSW–IND) – 6.10m
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