Dutee Chand begins Olympic year with a win

Indian sprinter Dutee Chand began her Olympic year with a win at the first Indian Grand Prix at the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala on Thursday.

Competing in her pet event, 100m, the 25-year-old Dutee was a comfortable winner in 11.51 seconds despite having to run the entire distance twice. It was her first track event in a year.

Lining up for the final, Dutee Chand raced her way to a win in the first go but was called back moments later for a restart after Bengal’s Himashree Roy was penalised for a false start.

Representing her home state Odisha, Dutee Chand showed no nerves as she redid her routine to take home the gold medal. Karnataka’s AT Daneshwari was second in 11.86 seconds while Diandra Valladares Maharashtra won the bronze in 11.97 seconds.

The times, however, were far from the Olympic cut of 11.15 seconds. The three Indian GPs and the Federation Cup will act as Olympic qualifiers for the upcoming Tokyo Games.

In the men’s segment, Maharashtra’s Krishnakumar Rane won the 100m title in a time trial. The Maharashtra athlete clocked 10.68 seconds for the gold. Indian international Muhammed Anas was second in 10.70 seconds and the national record holder in the distance, Amiya Mallick had to be content with a bronze in 10.89 seconds.

"Since it’s the season’s first race, I took it easy," Amiya Mallick said.

Competing in the first heat, the 33-year-old Rane used all his experience to bank on the pace generated by Anas only to pip him at the death for the win. Amiya Mallick, meanwhile, had no such help as he was forced to toil hard all by himself in what was a slow heat.

The day began with the 2018 Asian Games silver medallist, Dharun Ayyasamy, easing his way to the 400m hurdles title at NIS Patiala.

The 24-year-old Ayyasamy was in complete control of the race as he timed his run well to stay ahead of the pack before accelerating on the home stretch to win the gold in 51.33 seconds.

Uttar Pradesh's Aftab Alam took the silver in 51.56 seconds while Sathish K of Tamil Nadu completed the podium in 52.12 seconds.

In the women’s 400m, quarter-miler MR Poovamma was in her zone, winning the title in 53.45 seconds.

The former Asian Games medallist was hardly challenged by a depleted field with Haryana's Kiran Pahal coming second in 54.88 seconds while her compatriot Nancy took the bronze in 55.40 seconds.

Indian GP I results

Men 100m: Krishnakumar Rane (Mah) 10.68; 2. Muhammed Anas (Ker) 10.70; 3. Amiya Kumar Mallick (Odi) 10.89.

200m: Arokia Rajiv (TN) 21.40; 2. Shashank Shinde (Chg) 22.21; 3. Sunil Jat (Raj) 22.26

400m: 1. Naganathan Pandi (TN) 47.32; 2. Angrej Singh (Har) 47.59; 3. Gajanand Mistry (Guj) 47.97.

800m: 1. Ankesh Chaudhary (HP) 1:52.82; 2. Devender Kumar (Har) 1:53.20; 3. Surender Chahal (Har) 1:57.02.

5000m: Kisan Tadvi (Mah) 14:52.70; 2. E Nagaraja (Kar) 18:48.41.

400m hurdles: 1. Dharun Ayyasamy (TN) 51.33; 2. Aftab Alam (UP) 51.56; 3. Satish K (TN) 52.12.

Long jump: 1. Yugant Singh (UP) 7.62 metres; 2. Sahil Mahabali (Har) 7.59 metres; 3. R Swaminathan (TN) 7.30 metres.

Triple jump: Eldhose Paul (Ker) 16.56 metres; 2. U Karthik (Ker) 16.20 metres; 3. Salahu Mohammed (TN) 15.77 metres.

Shot put: 1. Sahib Singh (Del) 17.67 metres; 2. Juber Malik (Har) 16.96 metres.

Women: 100m: 1. Dutee Chand (Odi) 11.51; 2. AT Daneshwari (Kar) 11.86; 3. Diandra Valladares (Mah) 11.97.

200m: Anjali Devi (Har) 23.57; 2. Kaveri Patil (Kar) 24.45; 3. Subha Venkatesan (TN) 24.59.

400m: 1. MR Poovamma (Kar) 53.45; 2. Kiran Pahal (Har) 54.88; 3. Nancy (Har) 55.40.

800m: 1. Chanda (Del) 2:04.91; 2. Lili Das (Ben) 2:07.03; 3. Urvashi (Har) 2:14.76.

Long jump: 1. Mareena George (Ker) 6.11 metres; 2. Sonu Kumari (Har) 5.69 metres; 3. Tanushree (Raj) 5.54 metres

Shot Put: 1. Kachnar Chaudhary (Raj) 14.38 metres; 2. Tunlai Narzary (Asm) 13.62 metres; 3. Rimpy Dabas (Del) 9.44 metres.

Discus Throw: 1. Suravi Biswas (Ben) 48.97 metres; 2. Jhuma Basu (Ben) 44.20 metres.