Nirupama completes sprint double

Karnataka's Nirupama Sunderraj completed the sprint double for the second year in a row as the 26th National junior athletics championships wound to a close at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Saturday.

After her victory in the 100m on Thursday, the 18-year-old swept the field aside on Saturday to win the under-20 girls' 200m dash, setting a new meet record in the process. Her time of 24.28s was well inside Maria James' 24.83 from five years ago. Sunderraj also ran a spectacular anchor leg in the 4x100m relay, overtaking two runners to help the Karnataka team finish with a silver.

Kerala, meanwhile, took the overall championship with a tally of 28 gold, 19 silver, and 23 bronze medals. Haryana (18-28-10), and Maharashtra (17-9-3) finished second and third, condemning Tamil Nadu (16-14-16) to fourth place.

Triple jumper Arpinder Singh also had a memorable outing, leaping 16.45m to break Renjith Maheshwary's six-year-old under-20 boys' record of 16.06, on a day when seven other National records fell. Maharashtra's Shraddha Ghule was responsible for one of those, turning in an excellent performance in the under-20 girls' long jump to add to her triple jump gold from Friday. Ghule managed 6.30m, improving over Ruta Patkar's mark of 6.25.

The results (winners only):

Boys: U-20: 200m: Manish (Har) 21.85s; 400m hurdles: Ramashankar Bharati (Mah) 53.46; 800m: Jinson Johnson 1:52.49; 3000m steeplechase:Jiyalal Bind (MP) 9:30.85; Triple jump: Arpinder Singh (Pun) 16.45m, NR (Old: Renjith Maheshwary, 16.06); Shot put: Gurwant Singh (Pun) 17.37m;4x100m relay: Kerala 41.64. Best athlete: Arpinder Singh (Pun) 1096.

U-18: 200m: Prateek Ninave (Mah) 22.22s; 400m hurdles: Durgesh Kumar Pal (Mah) 51.74, NMR (Old: Shejil Verghese 53.14); 3000m: Inderjeet (UP) 8:25.91, NR (Old: Indrajeet Patel, 8:27.31); Pole Vault: Parmender Patel (UP) 4.70m, NR (Old: Parmender Patel 4.30); Hammer: Ali Ahmed (UP) 64.34m;Shot put: Surender singh (Har) 16.98; Javelin: Manoj Yadav (UP) 71.96, NR (Old: Rohit Kumar 71.52). Best athlete: K. Prem Kumar (TN) 1096.

U-16: 200m: Kamberdeep Singh (Pun) 22.33s, NR (Old: Jatin Jain 23.03);High jump: Ajay (Har) 1.91m. Best athlete: Shuvhendu Mishra (UP) 931.

U-14: Long jump: Ashaful Mondal (WB) 6.62m, NR (Old: P. Anburaja 6.33).Best athlete: Shakti Solanki (Del) 982.

Girls: U-20: 200m: Nirupama Sunderraj (Kar) 24.28s, NMR (Old: Maria James 24.83); 400m hurdles: Anju Rani (Har) 1:02.56; 800m: Anju (Har) 2:13.81; Long jump: Shraddha Ghule (Mah) 6.30m, NR (Old: Ruta Patkar 6.25); Discus: Parmila (Har) 49.10m, NMR (Old: M.R. Saroj 48.74); 4x100m relay: Kerala 48.38. Best athlete: Nirupama Sunderraj (Kar) 1038.

U-18: 200m: C. Rengitha (Ker) 24.79s, NMR (Old: Chitra Soman 25.00);400m hurdles: R. Anu (Ker) 1:02.65, NR (Old: Geetha Roby 1:03.43);3000m: Sahanara Kalam (WB) 10:29.53. Best athlete: R. Anu (Ker) 999.

U-16: 200m: Ruma Sarkar (WB) 25.42s; High jump: P. Merlin (Ker) 1.56m.Best athlete: Duttee Chand (Ori) 1026.

U-14: Best athlete: Rochelle Macfarlane (TN) 949.