Triple jumpers shine with 17m efforts at the Indian GP 3

Bhubaneswar: Abdulla Aboobacker and Karthik Unnikrishnan became only the third and fourth Indian triple jumpers to break the 17m mark after taking the top two places with 17.19m and 17.10m respectively in a dramatic contest in the Indian Grand Prix 3 here on Saturday.

Eldhose Paul

, who was leading the competition for four rounds, was unable to match his Kerala colleagues and settled for bronze. The trio served a delightful treat to fans, but it was Aboobacker who met the World Championships qualifying mark. Earlier in the day, two 31-year-old athletes,

Srabani Nanda

of Odisha and Sarita Romit Singh of Uttar Pradesh comfortably won the women’s 200m and hammer throw events respectively.

Akshay Annappa Shetty

(Maharashtra) claimed his first major national-level title when he won the men’s 200m in 21.86 seconds. Tamil Nadu’s G Deenadayalan took the men’s pole vault gold by clearing 4.60m. PTI