Ancy Sojan bags long-jump gold; Ragul wins 100m in Indian Grand Prix athletics

NEW DELHI: Ancy Sojan, the star long-jumper from Kerala, secured the gold medal in the women's event at the Indian Grand Prix in Bengaluru on Wednesday. She achieved a distance of 6.52 meters, marking a triumphant comeback after a seven-month hiatus due to an injury.
Despite her impressive performance, the 23-year-old Asian Games silver medallist fell short of her personal best of 6.63m and the Olympic qualification mark of 6.96m.
In fact, none of the athletes at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium managed to surpass the Olympic qualification standards in their respective events.
Nonetheless, Ancy's successful return from an ankle injury and her strong showing in a competitive environment will undoubtedly boost her confidence.
The upcoming national state championship, set to take place in Panchkula from June 27 to 30, serves as the final qualification event for athletes aspiring to compete in the Paris Olympics.
In the women's long jump, Nayana James secured the silver medal with a jump of 6.48m, while Bhavani Yadav from Andhra Pradesh claimed the bronze with a distance of 6.27m.
Moving on to the women's 400m, Dandi Jyothika from Andhra Pradesh clinched the gold with a time of 51.53 seconds, followed by Shubha Venkatesan of Tamil Nadu (52.34 seconds) and MR Poovamma of Karnataka (52.62 seconds).
In the men's 100m, Ragul Kumar from Tamil Nadu impressed with a winning time of 10.56 seconds, closely followed by Karnataka's Manikanta Hoblidhar (10.64 seconds) and Kerala's C Abhinav (10.67 seconds).
The women's 100m saw Karnataka sprinters dominate, with SS Sneha taking gold in 11.41 seconds and V Sudheeska securing bronze in 11.75 seconds. Abhinaya Rajarajan from Tamil Nadu claimed the silver with a time of 11.60 seconds.
Unfortunately, the highly anticipated javelin throw event lacked the presence of premier thrower Kishore Jena. The remaining two participants from Uttar Pradesh, Sachin Yadav (82.69m) and Rohit Yadav (75.52m), took home the top honours in his absence.
(With PTI inputs)