NEW DELHI, SEP 11 (IANS): A healthy competition with fellow trainee Anushka Yadav proved beneficial for Tanya Chaudhary of Uttar Pradesh as he set the national record in women’s hammer throw in the Indian Athletics Series Final in New Delhi.
It was like the fulfilment of a dream for Tanya, and the fact that she set a new mark just before the upcoming Asian Games was like icing on the cake as the 22-year-old took the spotlight on the opening day of the meet on Thursday.
Day One of the prize-money meet saw two national records being set in the hammer throw, with Tanya achieving the feat that she has been chasing for the past three years.
Tanya achieved her quest by improving the national record in the women’s hammer throw as she hurled the iron ball to a distance of 68.35m, improving the national record of 65.25m, which was set by Sarita Singh in 2017.
“My previous personal best is 63.91m. I have done 65m-plus two or three times (at the inter-university level), but those were not official. Now, I am able to do it (break the national record). It is a new beginning,” she said. “Normally, I used to be nervous. But I was focused on my technique today.”
Tanya, who trains along with Anushka at the same ground at Bhagpat in Uttar Pradesh under different coaches, said the healthy competition helped her move forward. “We both are from the same ground. So, there is healthy competition between us. So, it is good for both of us to move forward.”
Though Tanya could not breach the Asian Games qualifying mark, she has made it to the team for the mega event in Aichi-Nagoya in Japan and is looking forward to continuing the momentum in Japan.
“It was because of injury. Now I feel I will do better. I had multiple injuries at the same time: a hamstring injury and a stress injury in the femur bone. The injuries were going on since January.”
In the men’s section, Delhi’s Nirbhay Choudhary recorded a throw of 71.02m, which was better than the previous national record of 70.73m set by Neeraj Kumar in 2016.
The other major attraction for Indian athletics fans was the successful return to action by Avinash Sable in the men’s 3000m steeplechase.
Sable, representing Maharashtra, won the steeplechase in a time of 8 minutes 32.39 seconds in his first race in the distance in more than a year.
Spotlight was also on 400m runners as the top six finishers in the men’s race clocked below 46 seconds. Top three in the women’s 400m race also dipped below 53 seconds.
“I will do better and win a medal at the Japan Asian Games,” said Vishal TK, winner of the gold medal and national 400m record holder, in the post-race interaction.
Maharashtra’s promising sprinter Harita Bhadra, winner of the women’s 100m dash, said the Indian Athletics Series Final was good preparation for the Asian Games. “It was a good experience for me to race in the 100m dash with the top sprinters,” Harita added.
Odisha’s Animesh Kujur won both the 100m and 200m dash in the men’s section.
