It needed something special to take the focus away from the long jump pit in the Indian Grand Prix 4 Athletics Competition here at the Kalinga Stadium here on Tuesday night. And two young Javelin Throwers, Yashvir Singh (Rajasthan) and Rohit Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) delivered that performance by going past the 80m mark.
On a night when Nayana James produced two efforts over 6.37m to win the high-profile women's Long Jump title from Ancy Sojan (6.35m) and World U20 Silver Medalist Shaili Singh (6.27m), Yashvir Singh wrested the spotlight with a winning effort of 82.13m. The 20-year-old thus became only the 12th Indian to send the spear over 80m.
The Rajasthan thrower became the third javelin thrower from the country after DP Manu (Karnataka) and Rohit Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) joined the 80m Club this year.
Yashvir Singh, who missed the mark by a whisker in Patiala on March 17 last year, got his ahead of Rohit Yadav and Manu on Tuesday night to win gold.
The men's Long Jump did not have as much drama as the women's event since each of Muhammed Anees Yahiya's four legal jumps on Tuesday night was good enough to fetch him gold.
The Kerala jumper peaked with two of his last three tries, crossing the 8.00m mark. The 8.15m effort on his fifth attempt was the best of the night.
From the home fans' point of view, Amiya Kumar Mallick and Aryan Ekka's 1-2 in the men's 100m sprint as well as Srabani Nanda's victory in the women's 100m were pleasing.
The two Odisha men drew from one another in the second of the four races. Srabani Nanda, running her first 100 m in around a year, had to find her own pace to win.
( With inputs from ANI )
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