Devyani Zala Targets Asian Games Medal After Qualifying with 53.26s

"I will give my 100% and get a medal for India": Devyani Zala after Asian Games selection

Rajkot, July 7

Devyani, a 400-meter runner, secured her spot by clocking an impressive 53.26 seconds at the 65th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships held recently at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. By achieving this time, she officially breached the Asian Games qualification standard of 53.72 seconds.

Speaking to ANI, Devyani said, "I will give my 100% and get a medal for India."

Devyani also recalled that she discovered athletics in seventh grade after participating in Gujarat's Khel Mahakumbh through her school. She said she was initially focused on cricket and unaware of athletics opportunities, but a coach spotted her sprinting talent and encouraged her to pursue the sport.

"When I was in the seventh grade, I participated in a competition called 'Khel Mahakumbh' in Gujarat through my school. At that time, I wasn't aware of the massive achievements possible in athletics--such as the Olympics, Asian Games, or Commonwealth Games. I was just running the 100-metre dash and didn't have much knowledge about the sport. In fact, my father was preparing me for cricket back then. However, everything changed one day while we were playing cricket on the ground. An athletics coach saw me sprinting and spoke to my father, suggesting that I should take up athletics because my sprinting form was excellent," she said.

Devyani Zala's father, Mahendra Singh Zala, said she showed consistent success in Gujarat's government sports programme for five years before progressing to the Under-23 level. He recalled that a coach recognised her potential after she narrowly missed a medal and expressed confidence that she would win a medal for India at the Asian Games.

"She was a champion for five years under the government sports program across the whole of Gujarat. Then came the Under-23 category, and she was set to compete in the Under-23 event in Panchkula. In her first outing there, she missed a medal by a fraction of a second. That's when she met a coach named Ajay Arjun, who told me she had great potential...Now, she has qualified for the Asian Games, which feels wonderful. I have 100% faith in my daughter; she will definitely bring home a medal. She is sticking to her workout regimen perfectly," he said.

— ANI