Hima Das' golden run continues, bags 4th gold in 15 days
Muhammad Anas wins men's 400m race at Tabor Athletics Meet
New Delhi: Star Indian sprinter Hima Das clinched her fourth gold of the fortnight as she won the 200m race with a creditable time in the Tabor Athletics Meet in Czech Republic here Wednesday.
Hima won in 23.25 seconds though the race had a mediocre field with most of the competitors representing clubs of Czech Republic. Nonetheless, she is inching closer to her personal best of 23.10.
Hima's compatriot V K Vismaya was second with a season best 23.43.
This was 19-year-old Hima's fourth gold since July 2 when she ran her first competitive race in Europe. She has been keeping on improving since her first race.
In her first competitive 200m race of the year, the old Assam runner had clocked 23.65 seconds on her way to gold at the Poznan Athletics Grand Prix in Poland on July 2. After that, she won her second 200m gold at the Kutno Athletics Meet, also in Poland, on July 7 with a time of 23.97 seconds.
On July 13, she won her third 200m gold at the Kladno Athletics Meet in Czech Republic with a time of 23.43. Hima's pet event is 400m and she is yet to qualify for the World Championships in both the quartermile event and the 200m.
The World Championships qualifying time for 200m is 23.02 while it is 51.80 in 400m.
In men's 400m, Muhammad Anas won in 45.40 seconds in a mediocre field while compatriots Tom Noah Nirmal came second with a season best effort of 46.59. K S Jeevan was third in 46.60 and M P Jabir finished fourth in 47.16.
On July 13 at Kladno, Anas had bettered his own 400m national record to clinch a gold and qualify for the World Championships by clocking 45.21 seconds.
The World Championships qualification time is 45.30 seconds in men's 400m race.
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Sri Lanka recovers 87 bodies from Iranian warship sunk off its coast by US submarine
Colombo (AP): A US submarine sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka, and Sri Lanka's navy said Wednesday it recovered 87 bodies and rescued 32 people.
The Iranian vessel that was sunk in the Indian Ocean was the Islamic Republic's “prize ship,” US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a Pentagon news briefing. Hegseth said it was the first sinking of an enemy ship with a torpedo by the US since World War II.
Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath told Parliament that its navy received information that the IRIS Dena, with 180 people on board, was in distress and sinking. The island nation sent ships and air force planes on a rescue mission, he said.
Navy spokesman Commander Buddhika Sampath said by the time navy ships reached the location, there was no sign of the ship and “there were only some oil patches and life rafts. We found people floating on the water.”
He said the 32 people rescued were admitted to a hospital in the seaside town of Galle on the Sri Lanka's southern coast. The bodies recovered were being brought to land, he said.
Dr Anil Jasinghe, a top health ministry official, said one of those rescued is in critical condition, seven are receiving emergency treatment and others are being treated for minor injuries.
The IRIS Dena — one of Iran's newest warships — is a Moudge-class frigate that patrols in deep water for the Iranian navy. It is armed with heavy guns, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles and torpedoes. It also carries one helicopter.
The frigate was the centerpiece of a two-ship international tour in 2023 that included port calls in countries including South Africa and Brazil. It was accompanied by the support ship IRIS Makran, a converted oil tanker.
The US Treasury Department included both ships on a sanctions designation in February 2023 along with eight executives of an Iranian drone manufacturer that supplied the weapons to Russia for use against civilian targets in Ukraine.
At least 17 Iranian naval vessels have been sunk during the ongoing war, said US Adm Brad Cooper, who leads the American military's Central Command.
“We are also sinking the Iranian navy — the entire navy,” he said in a video message.
