Inter State C’ships: Animesh Kujur leads India’s Asiad qualifying attack on Day 2

India’s athletics contingent for the 2026 Asian Games continued to grow on Thursday as a string of outstanding performances at the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships saw athletes across athletics reach the Athletics Federation of India’s qualifying standards.

Leading the charge was Home favorite Animesh Kujurwho put on another superb display in the men’s 200m. After dipping below the qualifying mark in the heats with 20.87 seconds, the national record holder came back in the final to clock 20.74 to comfortably win gold. Odisha teammate Dondapati Mrutyum Jayaram finished second (20.97s), while Jishnu Prasad PK of Kerala took the bronze (21.18s).

RECORDS TUMBLE

The biggest statement of the day, however, came in the women’s pole vault. Karnataka’s Sindhushree G cleared 4.25m, breaking the national record and qualifying comfortably for Aichi-Nagoya. Previous record holder Baranica Elangovan was not far behind with a performance of 4.20m while Nitika Akare advanced to three qualifiers when she cleared 4.10m.

The women’s 200m went similarly, with Harita Bhadra (23.14s), Unnathi Bollanda (23.40s) and Prakruthi Roopa Rao B (23.58s) finishing inside the qualifying mark in an impressive sprint finish.

OUT OF DEPTH

India’s middle distance running also enjoyed a productive evening. Gowthami Jayaraman, Pooja and Lili Das cleared the women’s 800m qualifying standard, while Mohammed Afsal P emerged as the only qualifier in the men’s final after winning gold in 1:48.57.

There was more success in the field as Manpreet Kaur won the women’s shot put with 17.75m ahead of Krishna Jayasankar and Srishti Vig who also cleared the qualifying mark.

National record holder Tejas Shirse maintained his rich form by clocking 13.43 seconds in the men’s 110m hurdles to qualify, while Kerala’s Thowfeeq N (7,276 points) and Maharashtra’s Kushal Mohite (7,251) cleared the Asian Games bar at the Asian Games.

With the championships entering the business end, the race to place in the Indian athletics team is gathering pace. Although meeting the qualification standards strengthens the athlete’s case, it should be noted that the final team for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games will be selected at the discretion of the AFI.

– The end

Issued by:

Amar Panicker

Published on:

Jun 26, 2026 02:44 IST