Sahana, Arshad shine for Karnataka

BANGALORE: High jumper Sahana Kumari, who made the Olympics grade eclipsing the national record, and upcoming long jumper Arshad M, who upset the favourites to win the gold were Karnataka's stars in the 52nd National Inter-State athletics held in Hyderabad.
While Sahana's domination was expected, Arshad exceeded expectations by his superb performance.The Mysore boy, now a Sergeant with Indian Air Force, came up with his best leap (7.42m) on his sixth and last attempt to edge Tamil Nadu's Prem Kumar by one centimeter. Arshad's win was all the more creditable as he upset the likes of Maha Singh and Amritpal Singh.
Silver lining
Karnataka can also take pride in the performance of two its young stars who will surely dominate the national scene in the coming years. In men's high jump, Bangalore boy S Harshith took the silver clearing 2.11m while in women's pole vault Khyati SV finished second behind national record holder VS Sureka clearing a height of 3.50m.
Another youngster who caught the eye was Meghana Shetty who took the bronze in women's 100m hurdles after high drama. Noted coach VR Beedu's ward Meghana finished a clear third clocking 14.51 seconds behind Kerala's Anchu MM and Odisha's Purnima. Tamil Nadu's Hani finished fourth clocking 14.63 seconds. The officials made a big goof-up awarding the bronze to Hani before they admitted the mistake and corrected the result.
There were also few disappointments for Karnataka with Joyline M Lobo (women's triple jump) and Pallavi Sukumar (women's long jump) failing to meet expectations. While Joyline finished fifth, Pallavi ended ninth in a field of 11. In men's 100m, state winner GN Bopanna entered the final but finished last clocking 10.82 seconds.