13 Athletes Achieve Asian Games Qualification Mark on Day Three of National Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: A series of standout performances across track and field events lit up Kalinga Stadium on Friday as 13 athletes achieved qualification standards for the upcoming Asian Games during the third day of the 65th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships.

Triple jump emerged as the biggest highlight of the day, with six male athletes crossing the Athletics Federation of India’s (AFI) qualification mark for the Aichi–Nagoya Asian Games scheduled to begin in Japan on September 19. The final selection of athletes for the Indian contingent will be made by the AFI selection committee after the conclusion of the championship.

The evening session began with strong performances in the men’s hammer throw, where Punjab’s Damneet Singh clinched the gold medal with a throw of 69.72 metres, surpassing the Asian Games qualification mark of 69.12 metres. Rajasthan’s Praveen Kumar also secured qualification with a silver-winning throw of 69.58 metres.

The women’s discus throw witnessed Haryana’s dominance as all three medal winners crossed the qualification standard of 55.48 metres. Seema claimed gold with a throw of 59.73 metres, while Sanya Yadav and Nidhi secured silver and bronze respectively, also meeting the required mark.

In the men’s triple jump, India’s top jumpers delivered an exceptional contest with the leading six athletes achieving the Asian Games benchmark of 16.28 metres. Tamil Nadu’s Praveen Chithravel secured the title with an opening leap of 16.92 metres. Kerala’s Karthik U finished second with 16.80 metres, followed by Tamil Nadu’s Selva Prabhu at 16.79 metres.

Track events also produced impressive performances. National record holder Tejas Shirse of Maharashtra comfortably won the men’s 110m hurdles final in 13.61 seconds, narrowly improving upon the Asian Games qualification time of 13.63 seconds.

In the women’s 400m hurdles heats, Tamil Nadu’s Vithya Ramraj maintained momentum in her campaign for Asian Games selection by clocking 56.69 seconds.

Odisha registered success in the men’s 4x100m relay, where the host team claimed gold with a timing of 39.92 seconds ahead of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. In the women’s relay, Karnataka topped the podium while Odisha’s team could not complete the race.

Tamil Nadu also emerged victorious in the mixed 4x400m relay, edging past Punjab and Rajasthan in a closely contested finish.

With multiple athletes strengthening their claims for international selection, the championship continues to raise competition levels ahead of India’s preparations for the Asian Games later this year.