Alex Antony sprints his way back into public consciousness with 400m win

Kerala’s Alex Antony long wait for his moment under the sun ended on Wednesday when he won the men’s 400m final in compelling fashion in the National Inter-State Athletics Championship at the compact PAC Stadium here. For a good three years since missing qualification for the 400m final of the 2016 Federation Cup in Bengaluru, he was in the wilderness with a hamstring injury.

Figuring in his fourth quarter-mile race this season and his third in two days here, Alex Antony showed a clean pair of heels to the field. Having clocked 46.55 in the Indian Grand Prix V in Patiala a few days ago, he ran a 47.59 in the first round heats on Tuesday and 46.78 in the semifinals before improving on his personal best in the final.

He opened up a good lead by the time the finalists turned into the home straight and finished well ahead of Harsh Baljeet Singh. Besides the bragging rights as a National champion with a career-best time of 46.17 seconds, the 24-year-old’s consistency in the past fortnight will have staked a strong claim to be included in the men’s 1600m relay quartet along with Muhammed Anas Yahiya.

His form will have forced the Athletics Federation of India think-tank to consider picking hm to run a leg as part of the AFI team in the men’s 4x400m relay. After all, among those who have spent considerable time in the National camp in Spala, Poland, and competing in Europe, Muhammed Anas Yahiya is the only one in good stead.

Just as Noah Nirmal Tom has served notice of his intensity and desire to do well since emerging 400m winner in 45.96 the Services Championship last year, Alex Antony now presents himself as an interesting option ahead of the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha next month. It remains to be seen what those who manage the squad decide.

Arokia Rajiv and Ayyasamy Dharun have not been up to scratch due to injuries, Kunhu Mohammed, a familiar face in the Indian teams, has dropped off the radar and was beaten in the semifinals. Tamilarsan Santhosh finished a poor fifth in the 400m final, leaving the coaches to wonder how the Indian team would improve on the squad’s Asian Games time of 3:01.85.

Of course, ranked 16th at the moment, the India team will target to go past Botswana’s time of 3:01.78 to ensure that it is not left in the lurch should some other teams sneak in faster than India’s 3:01.85.

Another Kerala athlete who is seeking to force her way into the National relay squad is Jisna Mathew. She was the only one who clocked a sub-54 second time in the semifinalists while Saritaben Gayakwad, flown in from the camp in Spala to get a 400m race, was a shade slower in winning her heats in 54.16.

The results (all finals):

Men:

200m: 1. Balakumar Nithin (Tamil Nadu) 20.91 seconds; 2. Akshay Nain (Delhi) 21.39; 3. Abhinav Panwar (Delhi) 21.47.

400m: 1. Alex A Antony (Kerala) 46.17 seconds; 2. Harsh Baljeet Singh (Haryana) 46.64; 3. Sachin Roby (Karnataka) 46.96.

800m: 1. Mohammed Afsal (Kerala) 1:48.35; 2. Mujamil Ameer (Tamil Nadu) 1:49.03; 3. Ankit (Haryana) 1:49.95.

400m Hurdles: 1. Mahdi Pirjahan (Iran) 49.33 seconds (New meet record; Old: 49.69, Ayyasamy Dharun, Guwahati, 2018); 2. Jagdeesh Chandra (Karnataka) 50.85; 3. Jithin Paul (Kerala) 50,92.

Triple Jump: 1. Arpinder Singh (Punjab) 16.83m; 2. Karthik U (Karnataka) 16.80; 3. Salahuddin Mohammed (Tamil Nadu) 16.79.

Shot put: 1. Inderjeet Singh (Haryana) 19.73m; 2. Jasdeep Dhillon (Punjab) 17.77; 3. Shakti Rathore (Rajasthan) 17.20.

Decathlon: 1. Gurpreet Singh (Chandigarh) 6667 points (100m: 11.53; LJ: 6.60m; SP: 12.46m; HJ: 1.90m; 400m: 51.80; 110mH: 16.26; DT: 37.98; PV: 3.70; JT: 50.91; 1500m: 4:44.18); 2. Durai Murugan (Tamil Nadu) 66621; 3. Krishna Kumar (Tamil Nadu) 6587.

20km walk: 1. Sandeep Kumar (Haryana) 1:27:25.47; 2, KT Irfan (Kerala) 1:28:20:94; 3. Chandan Singh (Uttarakhand) 1:28:21.29.

Women:

800m: 1. P U Chitra (Kerala) 2:02.96; 2. Jessy Joseph (Kerala) 2:07.09; 3. Pramila Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) 2:07.62.

400m Hurdles: 1. Arpitha Manjunatha (Karnataka) 59.98 seconds; 2. Aarthi (Tamil Nadu) 1:00.48; 3. Dhivya (Tamil Nadu) 1:01.06.

Long Jump: 1. Nayana James (Tamil Nadu) 6.20m; 2. Priyanka Kerketta (Jharkhand) 6.13; 3. Harshini Saravanan (Tamil Nadu) 6.07.