Hima bags gold; books Asiad berth on Day 2 of NISSAC
Guwahati, June 28 : Local favourite and brand ambassador of the 58th National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships Hima Das on Wednesday lived to her billing to clinch the gold in women's 200m race in a meet record-equalling time of 23.10 seconds and book a ticket for the upcoming Asian Games.
Running at lane number 7, the 18-year-old led the final race from start to the end, leaving behind Odisha's Dutee Chand (23.41) by a big gap at the finish line to clock a personal best time. Another Odisha sprinter Srabani Nanda took the bronze in 23.87.
Dutee also booked an Asian Games berth after clocking 23.46 in one of the heats on Tuesday. The qualifying time for Asiad in this event is 23.50.
In men's 200m, Muhammed Anas of Kerala took the gold in 20.98 seconds but missed the qualifying mark of 20.87. V.K. Elakkiya Dasan of Tamil Nadu secured the silver in 21.31 while Parveen Kumar (21.43) got the bronze.
Anas, who began running 200m recently, had clocked 20.74 in Poland earlier this month.
Meanwhile, in women's 800m race, Komal Chodhary of Haryana took the gold clocking 2 minutes and 06.68 seconds, well outside the qualifying mark of 2:03.00. Shipra Sarkar of Bengal took the silver in 2:07.02 while Maharashtra's Archana Adhav clocked 2:07.22 to take bronze.
Eight athletes have so far breached the Asian Games qualifying mark set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). India has been allotted 102 (52 men and 50 women) spots by the organisers of the Asian Games to be hosted at Jakarta in August.
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Siddaramaiah congratulates Shivakumar on completing six years as Cong state chief
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday congratulated his deputy D K Shivakumar on completing six years as the Congress state president.
He hailed Shivakumar's organisational skills and commitment to the party despite being "harassed" by the BJP in false cases.
"Congratulations to Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on completing six years as the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president," Siddaramaiah said in a post on 'X'.
Shivakumar's organisational skills, ideological commitment and hard work are an example for all the young leaders of Congress, he said.
"Despite being harassed by the opposition BJP by filing false cases, Shivakumar has remained loyal to the party without giving in and is a testament to his uncompromising loyalty to the Congress party. This is an inspiring behavior for lakhs of Congress party workers," the CM said.
He lauded Shivakumar, saying that he worked day and night along with party leaders and workers to defeat the communal forces and bring the Congress party to power.
"Shivakumar has stood shoulder to shoulder with me in rebuilding the state as a garden of peace for all races. Shivakumar, who is younger than me, has a bright political future," Siddaramaiah said.
He said that it is a common desire to bring the Congress party to power in 2028. "I will also be with the party in organising and fighting for this."
Siddaramaiah congratulating Shivakumar comes on a day where the latter is going to throw a dinner party for Congress MLAs.
All eyes are set on the outcome of the "dinner meeting", which is happening in the midst of the power tussle in the ruling Congress between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar.
