36th National Junior Athletic Championship: Pune’s Choudhari wins gold medal in 400m hurdles

Pune: City’s Siddhesh Choudhari achieved his personal best of 53

Pune: City’s Siddhesh Choudhari achieved his personal best of 53.91 seconds to clinch gold, his first national medal, at the 400 metre hurdles in the under-18 category at the 36th National Junior Athletics Championships that concluded at Guwahati on Wednesday.

Siddhesh Choudhari achieved his personal best of 53.91 seconds to clinch gold, his first national medal, at the 400 metre hurdles in the under-18 category at the 36th National Junior Athletics Championships that concluded at Guwahati on Wednesday. (HT PUNE)

It was a tight finish for the 18-year-old as he beat his nearest opponent by 0.3 seconds. The second place was achieved by Nashik’s Swyam Badhe (53.94seconds). Ankit from Rajasthan settled for the bronze with 54.06 seconds.

“I was happy to beat my earlier best of 54.88 seconds. In the heats I was slow but managed to achieve first place with the timings of 55.60 seconds,” said Choudhari, who trains at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi under coach Jaikumar Tembhare.

“I was lagging till the eighth hurdle. Swyam was ahead and while crossing the last hurdle (there are 10 hurdles in 400m hurdles event), I managed to outrun him,” he said.

Though Tembhare is happy with Choudhari’s feat, he expects improvement in his timings.

“Siddhesh is serious about his workout. I am sure he can achieve better timings. As he is still raw, we will be working on his start going ahead. As he graduates into higher age categories, improving timings is our top priority,” said Tembhare.

Avantika grabs fourth spot

Pune’s Avantika Narale who had won the 100 metre gold had to be content with fourth place finish in the 200 metre as he finished the race with the timing of 25.12 seconds. The gold went to Sudeshna Shiva of Satara (24.65 seconds) followed by silver and bronze medal to Deepti from Telangana (24.67 seconds) and Priya from Karnataka (24.83 seconds) respectively.

Rujula best emerging player

City’s Rujula Bhonsle bagged the best emerging player trophy at the meet for winning the 60 metre gold with making a national record. Bhonsle claimed the gold with timing of 7.96 seconds.

Maharashtra finishes fifth

With eight gold, 10 silver and 11 bronze medals, Maharashtra stood fifth at the end of the 36th National Junior Athletic Championship. Haryana grabbed top spot with 21 gold, 20 silver and 14 bronze medals. The second and third place was bagged by Tamil Nadu (13 gold, 12 silver, 12 bronze) and Uttar Pradesh (13 gold, 8 silver, 14 bronze) medals.