National Open Athletics: Annu Rani cruises to victory

The javelin event at the 59th National Open Athletics at Birsa Munda Stadium in Ranchi lost colour because of the last-minute pull-out of its biggest star Neeraj Chopra, but there were no more surprises on Thursday as Annu Rani eased to victory in women's competition.
It was a comfortable win for the 25-year-old as each of her six throws was better than the best by her Railways' teammate and closest rival, Sharmila Kumari.
After setting a national record with a throw of 62.43m in the just-concluded World Athletics Championships in Doha, she opened with a throw of 56.97m and followed that up with a series of throws over 55.97, 58.31, 57.29 and 56.86 before securing the title with one at 58.60m. Sharmila's best effort was over 53.28m on her third throw.
Meanwhile, Siva S of Services matched his own meet record in the men's pole vault with a clearance of 5.10m.
ONGC's Suresh Kumar, 28, returned to the top of the podium in a men's 10,000m race at the national level after five years, by winning the event in 29:41.25 seconds. He last tasted victory at the inter-state championships in Lucknow in June 2014. Asian championships bronze medalist Murli Kumar Gavit of Gujarat finished a distant ninth.
Earlier, World University Games champion Dutee Chand emerged the fastest of the qualifiers for the women's 100m semifinals, clocking 11.55 seconds in the heats. Archana Suseendran, another premier sprinter, got through to the semifinals after finishing third in her heats in 11.87 behind Priyanka Kalagi (Railways) and MV Jilna (Kerala).
Jinson Johnson (AFI) and Ajay Kumar Saroj (Railways) won his men's 1500m heats and set up what could be an interesting final. The two runners were content to finish ahead of the pack in the two heats, nudging ahead of Rahul (Delhi) and Bir Singh (Haryana) by 0.21 seconds and 0.45 seconds respectively.
Services' T Santhosh Kumar, 21, clocked 51.78 seconds to be the most impressive in the men's 400m hurdles. MP Jabir (AFI) and Ayyasamy Dharun (Tamil Nadu), who represented India in the World Championships in Doha, were slower but did enough to win their respective heats. The competition among the three could produce some fireworks in the final.
ONGC's Siddhanth Thingalaya was the only qualifier for the men's 110m hurdles, who dipped in under 14 seconds, his time of 13.83 seconds being only six-hundredths of a second slower than the meet record he set back in Kolkata in 2011. If he can sustain his rhythm in the final, he could rewrite that mark.
Results (Only finals):
Men: 10000m: 1. Suresh Kumar (ONGC) 29:25.56; 2. Ranjeet Kumar Patel (Railways) 29:41.35; 3. Bugatha Srinu (Services) 30:03.50. Pole Vault: 1. Siva S (Services) 5.10m (NMR); 2. Rambeer Singh (Services) 5.00m; Bimin KP (Railways) 4.0m. Women: 10000m: 1. Surya Loganathan (Railways) 34:14.10; 2. Arati Dattatray Patil (Maharashtra) 34:49.86; 3. Kavita Yadav (Railways) 34:51.44. Triple Jump: 1. Bhairabi Singh (Railways) 13.21m; 2. Renu (Haryana) 13.20m; 3. Siva Anabarsi MV (Railways) 13.10. Javelin Throw: 1. Annu Rani (Railways) 58.60m; 2. Sharmila Kumari (Railways) 53.28; 3. Poonam Rani (Haryana) 50.67.