Madhya Pradesh’s Samardeep Singh Gill delivered the standout performance on the final day of the National Senior Federation Competition, upsetting seasoned campaigner and national record holder Tajinderpal Singh Toor to clinch gold in the men’s shot put event on Monday.
Two-time Asian Games champion Toor started strongly, opening with a throw of 20.07m and looking poised to control the contest. However, 25-year-old Gill produced a decisive effort in his fourth attempt, sending the shot to 20.46m to move ahead of the experienced Punjab thrower.
Toor, who holds the national record of 21.77m, attempted to respond but could not find the required distance, with his final throw measuring 20.06m. Gill’s winning effort not only secured him the top spot on the podium but also saw him breach the Athletics Federation of India’s Commonwealth Games qualifying standard of 20.36m for Glasgow.
The men’s 400m hurdles also produced encouraging results, with two athletes crossing the CWG qualification mark. Karnataka’s Yashas P claimed gold with an impressive time of 49.00 seconds, while Santhosh Kumar T of NCOE Trivandrum finished a close second in 49.06 seconds. Both performances were good enough to meet the required standard.
In the men’s javelin throw, Maharashtra’s Shivam Lohakare continued to underline his potential with a gold medal-winning throw of 81.71m. While it was enough to secure first place, he narrowly missed the Commonwealth Games qualification mark of 82.61m.
The final day of competition offered a glimpse of India’s growing depth in athletics, with several emerging names making a strong case for bigger stages ahead.
Full Results
- Men: 200m: Animesh Kujur (Odisha) 20.64 secs, Jishu Prasad (Kerala) 20.98 secs, Abhay Singh (Reliance) 21.01 secs.
- 5,000m: Shivaji Parashuram (Karnataka) 14:14.43 secs, Vinod Singh (Madhya Pradesh) 14:15.50 secs, Deepak Bhatt (Uttarakhand) 14:17.72 secs.
- 400m hurdles: Yashas P (Karnataka) 49.00 secs, Santhosh Kumar T (NCOE Trivandrum) 49.06 secs, Subhas Das (Navy) 50.51 secs.
- Javelin throw: Shivam Lohakare (Maharashtra) 81.71m, Yashvir Singh (Rajasthan) 80.80m, Rohit Yadav (Railway Sports) 80.40m.
- Shot put: Samardeep Singh Gill (Madhya Pradesh) 20.46m, Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Punjab) 20.07m, Karanveer Singh (Punjab) 19.38m.
- Women: Kusum Thakur (Himachal Pradesh) 23.94 secs, Tamana (Haryana) 24.06 secs, Sudeshna H (Maharashtra) 24.07 secs.
- 5,000m: Seema (Reliance) 16:04.83, Ravina Gayakwad (Maharashtra) 16:46.21, Sonam Parmar (IOCL) 16:48.11.
- 400m hurdles: Vithya Ramraj (Tamil Nadu) 56.61 secs, Sinchal Kaveramma T (NCOE Bengaluru) 57.77 secs, Shravani Sachin (Maharashtra) 59.73 secs.
- High jump: Khyati Mathur (Uttar Pradesh) 1.82m, Manshi (Railway Sports) 1.80m, Abhinaya S Shetty (JSW) 1.73m.
- Heptathlon: Anamika KA (Kerala) 5685 points, Pooja (JSW) 5632 points, Khushi (Haryana) 5435 points.
– Ends
