Sarun Payasingh wins at Indian Athletics Series, eyes Asian Games spot

Odisha’s national indoor champion Sarun Payasingh continued his good run at the fourth leg of the Indian Athletics Series as he won the title in the men’s long jump event with an effort of 7.46m in Ranchi on Sunday.

Last month, Payasingh grabbed the gold medal with a leap of 7.80m at the maiden National Indoor Championships held in Bhubaneswar and is now hoping to make the cut for the Asian Games.




“I am happy because I wasn't completely fit but managed to win the title. However, my main target now is to perform well at the Federation Cup and make it to the Asian Games,” said Payasingh on Sunday.

To do that, the athlete from Kalahandi district, training under Athletics Project Odisha, knows he will have to work on several areas.

“I need to work on achieving more height during my jumps. But this is still the middle of the season, and I am confident of doing well in the coming days,” added the 25-year-old, who trains under coach Sundeep Sen at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

Meanwhile, Muhammed Anees (7.19m) and Urvish P (7.08m) finished second and third, respectively.

In the women’s section, Ancy Sojan, who also won at the National Indoors, continued her good form and finished on top with a leap of 6.45m. Odisha’s Manisha Merel (5.78m) finished second, while West Bengal’s Bidisha Kundu (5.73m) came third.

Tamil Nadu’s international hurdler, representing Railways, Vithya Ramraj, was a comfortable winner in the women’s 400m hurdles as she clocked 57.02 seconds.

Maharashtra high jumper and World Championships finalist Sarvesh Anil Kushare, too, walked away with the title. His best jump was 2.19m. Jharkhand’s Afroz Ahmad (2.13m) and West Bengal’s Md Nayeem (2.05m) were second and third, respectively.

In track events, Odisha’s Mousumi Roy stole the show, winning both the women’s 100m and 200m with timings of 11.83 secs and 24.79 seconds, respectively.

As for Odisha’s Mahendra Santa, he came out on top in the men’s 200m, winning the event with a time of 21.96 secs. The men’s 100m title went to Aniket of Maharashtra, who raced to victory in 10.60 secs.
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