Andhra Pradesh’s Mogali Venkat won the gold medal by completing the race in 1 minute 49.02 seconds, while Rajasthan’s Mayank Yadav secured the silver medal with a timing of 1 minute 50.27 seconds. Harshal had recently won a silver medal at this year’s Indian Open Athletics Series-1 held in Bengaluru.
Harshal is a member of Om Sai Sporting Club, Umred, and has been trained by Prafull Bele. He is currently practicing in Pune. However, Harshal’s teammate Pranay Upase failed to qualify for the final of the 800-meter race, while Abhishek Bawane finished in 20th place in the 3000-meter steeplechase event, informed Nagpur District Athletics Association secretary Dr. Sharad Suryavanshi.
Harshal’s achievement was congratulated by NDAA president Gurudev Nagarale along with Nagesh Sahare, Umesh Naidu, Shekhar Suryavanshi, Dr. Sanjay Chaudhary, Ravindra Tong, Ramchandra Wani, Archana Kottewar, Dr. Vivekanand Singh, Jitendra Ghordadekar, Harendra Thakre, Sunil Kapgate, Mangesh Paunikar, Amit Thakur, Chandrabhan Kolte, Dr. Brijmohan Singh Rawat, Kamlesh Hinge, Rajesh Bhute, Ganesh Wani, and others.