Comeback man Tejas Shirse wins 110m hurdles

CHENNAI: The Indian Athletics Series 6 meet here saw three athletes come agonisingly close to rewriting the national records. In the men’s 110m hurdles, current NR holder Tejas Shirse blazed to victory in 13.43 seconds, narrowly ahead of training partner M Krishik, who finished second in 13.44s. The high jump pit, meanwhile, witnessed Aadarsh Ram scale 2.27m to claim top honours with a standout effort.

For Tejas, this was the first meet after a four-month injury break. He trained for just three weeks and was in touching distance of breaching the Commonwealth Games qualifying mark. “It was a very difficult period and I was thinking of giving up. But then I fought a tough battle and struggled with mental issues as well. I was in good shape running 13.3s and the injury broke my momentum. If I can do 13.43s after just three weeks of training, then it is a great achievement,” Tejas said.

High jumper Aadarsh from Tamil Nadu became the country’s third-best high jumper. Going into the competition, the Asian Indoors bronze medallist had a personal best of 2.23m, which he bettered with clearances of 2.24m and 2.27m. He also attempted the national record but fell short at 2.30m.

Sreeshankar, Baranica top
Murali Sreeshankar from Kerala registered 8.04m in the men’s long jump. The 27-year-old committed three fouls and felt that the heat ate away all his energy. Pole vaulter Baranica Elangovan, who broke the national record twice this year, leapt 4.10m to secure the pole position. Krishna Jayasankar threw the iron ball to 16.96m to cross the Asian Games qualifying mark and in discus throw she finished second (53.37m). Nidhi Rani at 58.82m in discus breached both the Asian and CWG qualifying marks.

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