It was javelin throwers’ day out at Continental Tour in Bhubaneswar

Promising javelin throwers from India and Sri Lanka fought hard to stamp their authority in the one-day prize money World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meet at Kalinga’s Stadium here.

Egged on by an enthusiastic Sunday crowd, the 22-year-old Rumesh Tharanga from Sri Lanka walked away with the honour, winning first position with a distance of 86.50m to better the World Athletics automatic qualification mark of 85.50m.

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Tharanga’s previous best of 85.45m was recorded in 2024, while his season best was 85.41m.

India’s 20-year-old Shivam Lohakare fought bravely to deny the Sri Lankan team 1-2 as he finished second with 80.73m.

Sri Lanka’s Sumedha J Ranasinghe settled for third spot with 80.65m.

More experienced throwers like Rohit Yadav (80.35m), Sachin Yadav (79.80m), and Yashvir Singh (78.53m) finished fourth, fifth, and sixth in that order.

Earlier at the start of the meet, India’s experienced female javelin thrower, Annu Rani, continued to carry her good form to record 62.01m.

After a moderate start, the 32-year-old Asian Games champion picked up steam in her fourth attempt, which turned out to be a winning throw.

Annu said back-to-back plus 62m throws within a week have added to her confidence. “A steady performance ahead of the World Athletics Championships in September gives me immense satisfaction that I’ve crossed the 60m mark today,” Annu said in a post-event interaction.

At the long jump arena, Murali Sreeshankar improved his season best with a jump of 8.13m. He won first position.

Results

Men

100m: Muhammad Azeem Bin (Malaysia) 10.35 seconds, Chamod M Yodhasing (Sri Lanka) 10.43 seconds, Danish Iftikhar (Malaysia) 10.50 seconds.

200m: Animesh Kujur (Odisha—IND) 20.77 seconds, KO Seunghwan (Korea) 20.95 seconds, Raguk Kumar G (Tamil Nadu—IND) 21.17 seconds.

400m: Vishal TK (NCOE Trivandrum-IND) 45.72 seconds, Amoj Jacob (NCOE Trivandrum-IND) 45.86 seconds, Santhosh Kumar T (Tamil Nadu-IND) 46.89 seconds.

800m: Mohammad Afsal (Air Force—IND) 1:46.60 seconds, Prakash Gadade (Maharashtra—IND) 1:47.14, Krishan Kumar (Haryana–IND) 1:48.00.

5000m: Waberi Igueh Houssein (Djibouti) 14:05.36, Abhishek Pal (Railway—IND) 14:10.60, Sawan Barwal (Army—IND) 14:13.41.

Triple jump: Abdulla Aboobacker (Air Force—IND) 16.53m, Karthik Unnikrishnan (Air Force—IND) 16.42m, Gailey V (Tamil Nadu—IND) 16.26m.

Long jump: Murali Sreeshankar (JSW—IND) 8.13m, Shahnavaz Khan (Uttar Pradesh—IND) 8.04m, Lokesh Sathyanathan (Karnataka—IND) 7.85m.

Javelin throw: Rumesh Tharanga P (Sri Lanka) 86.50m, Shivam Lohakare (Maharashtra—IND) 80.73m, Sumedha J Ranasinghe (Sri Lanka) 80.65m.

4x400m relay: Sri Lanka 3:0.22 seconds, India A (Santhosh Kumar T, Vishal TK, Amoj Jacob D Choudhary), 3:08.37 seconds, Iraq 3:08.74 seconds.

Women

100m: Abinaya Rajarajan (NCOE Trivandrum—IND) 11.57 seconds, Sneha SS (Karnataka—IND) 11.70 seconds, Nithya Gandhe (Telangana—IND) 11.70 seconds

200m: Angel Silvia M (NCOE Bengaluru–IND) 23.95 seconds, Nithya Gandhe (Telangana—IND) 24.11 seconds, Unnathi Aiyappa (Karnataka—IND) 24.56 seconds.

400m: Vijaykumari GK (Karnataka—IND), 53.40 seconds, Devyaniba Zala (Gujarat-IND) 53.87 seconds, Louise Evans (Great Britain) 54.28 seconds.

800m: Amandeep Kaur (Punjab—IND) 2:04.31 seconds, Huidrom B (IOCL—IND) 2:06.96 seconds, Thota Sankeertana (Chhattisgarh—IND) 2:07.17 seconds.

1500m: Pooja (Haryana—IND) 4:15.13 seconds, Lili Das (Uttar Pradesh—IND) 4:17.66, Amandeep Kaur (Punjab—IND) 4:27.14.

100m hurdles: Pragyan Prashanti Sahu (Odisha—IND) 13.74 seconds, Nandhini K (Tamil Nadu—IND) 13.80 seconds, Anjali C (Kerala—IND) 14.00 seconds.

Javelin throw: Annu Rani (Uttar Pradesh—IND), 62.01m, Hatarabag Lekamalage (Sri Lanka) 56.27m, Deepika (Haryana—IND) 54.20m

Long jump: Shaili Singh (Uttar Pradesh—IND) 6.28m, Bhavani Yadav (Railway—IND) 6.13m, Sandra Babu (JSW—IND) 6.10m.