Spotlight on Odisha's sprinter at Kolkata leg of Indian Athletics Series
Kolkata, June 15
Odisha's Dondapati M. won the men's 100m title with a time of 10.56 secs as the sprinters from Odisha took the spotlight in the Kolkata leg of the Indian Athletics Series held at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Monday. He also finished second in the men's 200m.
The winner of the men's 200m was Astik Pradhan of Odisha. His winning time was 21.29 secs. Mousumi Roy Uttam, representing Odisha, was the winner of the women's 100m race. Her winning time was 12.06 secs.
Athletes from Railways, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Police, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra won gold medals in the event, which is part of a new domestic series of 16 regional meets started by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) this year to provide a competitive environment to local athletes.
The series started at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on April 4 and will end with the 16th stage in September at ABG Foundation in Bengaluru. In a year where every athlete is aiming to earn that qualifying mark for the Asian and Commonwealth Games, these meets will help them to attain these marks without much travelling.
Results
Men:
100m: Dondapati M (Odisha) 10.56 secs, Vignesh A (Madhya Pradesh) 10.73 secs, Shiv Kumar Soren (Jharkhand) 10.80 secs.
200m: Astik Pradhan (Odisha) 21.29 secs, Dondapati M (Odisha) 21.41 secs, Aryan Ekka (Odisha) 21.90 secs.
400m: Mijo Chacko Kurian (Air Force) 46.52 secs, Tushar Kanti Manna (Navy) 46.82 secs, Buddhadeb Bauri (West Bengal) 47.29 secs.
800m: Shyam Milan Bind (Uttar Pradesh) 1:49.93 secs, Sahil Khan (Rajasthan) 1:51.90 secs, MD Mahasin (West Bengal) 1:53.51 secs.
5,000m: Ravi Gulia (Railway Sports) 14:09.94 secs, Ajay (Haryana) 14:19.79 secs, Satish Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 14:23.80 secs.
Discus throw: Ujjwal (Haryana) 48.57m, Nirmal Jena (Odisha) 46.71m, Harpreet Singh (Punjab) 43.87m.
Javelin throw: Anil Rohidas (All India Police) 62.55m, Amit Majumder (West Bengal) 62.18m, Manish Singh (Bihar) 61.01m.
Long jump: Jiwanmukti Bilung (Odisha) 7.28m, Bhupender Singh (Railway Sports) 7.17m, Hemanga Borgohain (Assam) 7.07m.
Women:
100m: Mousumi Roy Uttam (Odisha) 12.06 secs, Swathi Rongali (JSW) 12.20 secs, Tamashree Mishra (West Bengal) 12.32 secs.
400m: Punitha Durairajan (Tamil Nadu) 56.11 secs, Aditi Banerjee (West Bengal) 56.96 secs, Gurdeep Kaur (Punjab) 58.30 secs.
5,000m: Sanjivani Jadhav (Maharashtra) 16:47.16 secs, Harmilan Bains (Chandigarh) 16:47.43 secs, Sonam Parmar (IOCL) 16:49.34 secs.
Long jump: Rimpi (Assam) 6.28m, Munmun (Assam) 5.88m, Bidisha Kundu (West Bengal) 5.85m.
U20: Men:
100m: Tipan Das (West Bengal) 10.96 secs, Mohit Mistry (West Bengal) 11.00 secs, Koushik Gogoi (Assam) 11.09 secs
200m: Mohammad Reyan (Odisha) 22.42 secs, Lastly Suchiang (Meghalaya) 22.50 secs, Yiarmanwill R (Meghalaya) 22.81 secs.
5,000m: Gopi Saroj (Karnataka) 14:50.24 secs, Balaram Mandal (West Bengal) 15:33.82 secs, Neeraj Negi (Uttarakhand) 16:50.25 secs.
Long jump: Jyotishman B (Assam) 6.81m, Sanoyaj Mondal (West Bengal) 6.79m, Soham Kumar Biswas (West Bengal) 6.76m.
Javelin throw: Debashish Adhikary (West Bengal) 63.17m, Manoj S Chavan (Maharashtra) 61.55m, Narugopal Biswas (West Bengal) 59.39m.
U20
Women:
100m: Archita Banerjee (West Bengal) 12.13 secs, Anushka Kar (West Bengal) 12.20, Riya Roy (West Bengal) 12.85 secs.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Wonderful to see so many states participating — Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra. This is what Indian sports needs: decentralized exposure. But the times are still slow for international standards. 10.56 for men's 100m won't win medals at Commonwealth Games. We need better training infrastructure and coaching at the grassroots level.
Big fan of this domestic series! Finally, athletes from smaller towns don't have to travel all the way to Delhi or Bangalore for every meet. Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata is a great venue — have been there for football matches. Glad to see athletics also getting some love in eastern India. Kudos to AFI for thinking regional. 🇮🇳
Impressive sweep by Odisha in the sprints! Dondapati M with a double in 100m gold and 200m silver. And Jiwanmukti Bilung winning long jump with 7.28m — that's a solid effort. But I hope the AFI is also investing in scientific coaching and sports medicine for these athletes. Raw talent alone won't get us to podiums in Paris or Los Angeles.
So happy to see a women's 100m winner from Odisha — Mousumi Roy Uttam! 🇮🇳 And the U20 categories are packed with talent too. Archita Banerjee from West Bengal running 12.13 in the U20 girls — that's promising. This series is a game-changer for young athletes who can't afford to travel across the country. More power to them! 💪
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