Indian Open U23 Athletics: Kerala’s Arjun Pradeep wins 400m hurdles gold with meet record

Kerala’s Arjun Pradeep stole the spotlight on the final day of the 5th Indian Open U23 Athletics Competition at the JN Stadium in Hanamkonda, Telangana, by setting a new meet record in the men’s 400m hurdles.

Pradeep clocked 50.29s, surpassing the previous record of 50.89s set by P. Yashas in 2022, to clinch the gold medal in style. His strong finish capped a competitive three-day event that witnessed several close contests across track and field events.

In the combined events, Kushal Kumar from Maharashtra secured the decathlon gold with a total of 6905 points, while Kushi, representing BSF (Border Security Force), claimed the heptathlon title with 5208 points.

Results

Men

200m: Dondapati (Odisha) 21.10s, Raja Babu (Haryana) 21.26s, Prateek D (Karnataka) 21.30s.

800m: Somnath Chauhan (Haryana) 1:48.74s, Prathamesh (Maharashtra) 1:48.89s, Shakeel (Rajasthan) 1:49.12s.

5000m: Ramhishad (Uttar Pradesh) 14:14.32s, Nishant Karhana (Haryana) 14:15.35s, Sandeep Pal (Uttar Pradesh) 14:16.15s.

3000m Steeplechase: Rahul (Haryana) 8:51.91s, Navratan (Haryana) 8:52.18s, Ranvir Singh (Gujarat) 8:53.63s.

400m Hurdles: Arjun Pradeep (Kerala) 50.29s (meet record – previous 50.89s by P. Yashas, 2022), Natarajan (Tamil Nadu) 51.13s, Hardeep Kumar (Punjab) 51.18s.

Javelin: Anand Singh (Reliance) 76.56m, Aditya (JSW) 75.45m, Parteek Kumar (Haryana) 73.35m.

Triple Jump: Vishal Bahadur (Jharkhand) 16.12m, Pradeep Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 15.63m, Narpinder Singh (Punjab) 15.60m.

Decathlon: Kushal Kumar (Maharashtra) 6905 points, Abhijit Bhosale (Air Force) 6820 points, Harish S (Tamil Nadu) 6574 points.

Women

200m: Sudeshna (Maharashtra) 23.84s, Aayushi (Uttar Pradesh) 24.08s, Samriti Jamwal (Himachal Pradesh) 24.23s.

800m: Laxita (Gujarat) 2:10.02s, Preeti Yadav (Madhya Pradesh) 2:10.07s, Prateeksha Yadav (JSW) 2:10.23s.

5000m: Supriti K (Jharkhand) 17:09.59s, Mitali R (Maharashtra) 17:10.09s, Latika Talwar (Rajasthan) 17:13.40s.

400m Hurdles: Harshitha R (Tamil Nadu) 1:00.03s, Moumi Jana (NCOE Patiala) 1:00.83s, Ramandeep Kaur (Punjab) 1:00.99s.

3000m Steeplechase: Prachi Devkar (Maharashtra) 10:09.07s, Susmita Tigga (Odisha) 10:44.23s, Manju Choudhari (Rajasthan) 11:02.18s.

Hammer Throw: Sneha (Haryana) 51.37m, Pratibha (Madhya Pradesh) 50.73m, Mital Solanki (Gujarat) 50.41m.

Triple Jump: Poorva (Anju Bobby George Academy) 13.22m, Preeti (Rajasthan) 12.99m, Merymukta (Odisha) 12.65m.

Javelin Throw: Khushee Yadav (Rajasthan) 47.64m, Saloni (Haryana) 45.29m, Pratiksha Patel (Uttar Pradesh) 45.17m.

Heptathlon: Kushi (BSF) 5208 points, Nishi Kumari 5116 points, Isha Chander (Uttarakhand) 5084 points.