London: Jyothi Yarraji smashed the women's 100m hurdle national record for the second time in less than two weeks while winning the event at the Loughborough International Athletics Meet in the UK. The 22-year-old from Andhra Pradesh on Sunday clocked 13.11 seconds under permissible wind speed of +0.3m/s to better her own earlier national record of 13.23 that she had clocked on May 10 during the Cyprus International Meet in Limassol. Jyothi, who trains under James Hillier at Reliance Foundation Odisha Athletics High Performance Centre in Bhubaneswar, had bettered Anuradha Biswal's national mark of 13.38 which had stood since 2002. That happened a month after her national record effort was not counted due to wind assistance beyond legal limit. She had clocked 13.09 seconds during the Federation Cup in Kozhikode last month but it was not counted as national record as the wind speed was +2.1 m/s, more than the permissible +2.0 m/s.In 2020 also, Jyothi had run below Biswal's national record time as she clocked 13.03 seconds at the All India Inter-University Athletics Championships in Moodbidri, Karnataka. But it was also not counted as NR as National Anti-Doping Agency did not test her at the meet and there was no technical delegate from the Athletics Federation of India. Jyothi comes from a humble background as her father Suryanarayana is working as a private security guard and her mother Kumari is a domestic help. Another Reliance Foundation Odisha Athletics HPC trainee Amlan Borgohain, who smashed the national record during the Kozhikode Federation Cup, finished fifth in 200m race with a time of 21.27 seconds. The 24-year-old from Assam had clocked 20.52s in Kozhikode.In other results, national record holder Siddhant Thingalaya finished second in 110m hurdles with a time of 13.97. Graceson Amaldas, national swimmer-turned-hurdler from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu won junior men's 110m hurdles guest race in 13.91 seconds.—PTI

Jyothi Yarraji smashed the women's 100m hurdle national record for the second time in less than two weeks while winning the event at the Loughborough International Athletics Meet in the UK.

Jyothi smashes own 100m hurdles national record in UK

Athletics

Bengaluru:&nbsp;Kenya's Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli and Irene Cheptai smashed the course records to win top honours at the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) World 10K Bengaluru here on Sunday. Kimeli, fourth in the Tokyo Olympics 5000m event, and Cheptai ran course records of 27:38 and 30:35, in men's and women's category respectively at the World Athletics Elite Label Race. Kimeli reduce the record by six seconds from the previous mark set by his compatriot Geoffrey Kamworor in 2014.The race started off in an unusual manner with Kenya's Reynold Kipkorir out on his own for much of the first 5km. However, shortly after going through 5km, Tadese Worku changed gear and started to rapidly tow the leading men and Kimeli continued running just behind him. As they reached the final kilometre Worku couldn't respond when Kimeli took the lead, with the latter almost sprinting like a middle-distance runner over the final 300 metres. Kimeli crossed the line in 27:38 with Worku also inside the old record with 27:43 while the Kenyan pre-race favourite, and former world half marathon record holder, Kibiwott Kandie made up three places in the final two kilometres and came through for third in 27:57. Honestly, I was not expecting to get the course record. But only when Worku pushed ahead, I picked up pace towards the end, reflected Kimeli. In the women's race, Cheptai took an even bigger slice out of the course record which had stood to the late Agnes Tirop at 31:19 since 2018. After a super-fast opening two kilometres of 3:02 and 3:04, a quick time was always likely and the race was soon down to just three women at the front: Cheptai, Obiri and fellow Kenyan Joyce Tele. Tele started to lose contact with her compatriots in the fifth kilometre before Obriri, pushing the pace with Cheptai running in her slipstream, passed the halfway point in 15:15. With 250 metres to go, Cheptai darted past Obiri crossing the line in a personal best of 30:35, her first time inside 31 minutes. Obiri finished with an outstanding 30:44 while Tele was a distant third in 31:47 to complete an all-Kenyan podium. When we raced through an inclined patch on the route [just after 7km], I felt like Hellen's pace reduced, that's when I tried harder to take lead. But even when I entered the stadium for the final lap, I was fearing Hellen and kept pushing my speed to win, commented Cheptai. Kipkorir Kimeli and Cheptai both take home first place cheques of USD 26,000 for their victories and course record bonuses of USD 8000. Parul Chaudhary, Abhishek Pal crowned new Indian championsParul Chaudhary, who recorded her personal best, and Abhishek Pal were crowned champions in the Indian men's and women's field.It was an easy win for Parul, who hardly strayed away from the lead role in the pack. A final burst allowed her to finish at the top and set a personal best in 10K road running at 34:38. Defending champion Sanjivani finished 6 seconds behind at 34:44. The surprise of the day was for Komal Jagadale who also managed to break away from the pack in the last 350m of the race and finish at 35:28. For Komal, a steeplechaser, it was an incredible debut 10K race where she finished ahead of her seniors The men's field featured a podium that finished with a second of each other with Abhishek taking the top spot at 30:05 while both Kartik Kumar and Gulveer Singh finished at 30:06. For both Kartik and Gulveer, it was their first time racing a 10K on road and both runners, who train together at a camp in Ooty, were pleased with their performance. While Gulveer, a 10K road race novice, has yet to qualify for the Asian Games, both Abhishek and Kartik have secured qualification in the 5k event. The International Event Ambassador for the event former American sprinter and 4-time Olympic champion Justin Gatlin was swept up in the fervour created in the Kanteerava stadium with the return of the much-anticipated event. The American even hinted at a possible marathon debut as part of his post-retirement plans.It's the discipline of it all (on maintaining his fitness after retirement) keeping fit and wanting to look in the mirror and saying, I look good.—PTI

 Kenya's Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli and Irene Cheptai smashed the course records to win top honours at the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) World 10K Bengaluru here on Sunday.

Kimeli, Cheptai smash course records to win TCS World10K

Germany: Indian shooters continued to dominate the proceedings at the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany, winning four more gold medals in the women's and men's air rifle and air pistol team events on Friday.India's tally currently stands at 14 medals, including eight gold and six silver.Australia, France, Poland and Bulgaria have won the other four gold medals on offer.India's gold rush, on Friday, began when the men's 10m air rifle trio of Rudrankksh Patil, Paarth Makhija and Umamahesh Maddineni beat Spain's Jesus Oviedo, Adrian Diaz and Jorge Estevez 16-8 in the gold medal match.It was a second gold in the competition for both Rudrankksh and Paarth, who had won the individual men's 10m air rifle and the mixed team rifle competitions earlier respectively.It was then the turn of the junior women's 10m air pistol team of Manu Bhaker, Palak and Esha Singh who outplayed Georgians Salome Prodiashvili, Mariam Abramishvili and Mariami Prodiashvili by the same 16-8 margin.Then the air rifle women's team consisting of Arya Borse, Zeena Khitta and Ramita downed the Korean trio of Yeeun AN, Eunji Kwon and Jeongin Jang 17-9 in the title decider to give India the third gold of the day.Finally, the men's air pistol team of Saurabh Chaudhary, Shiva Narwal and Sarabjot Singh outclassed Uzbekistan's Mukhammad Kamalov, Veniamin Nikitin and Umidbek Komolbekov 17-9 to clinch India's fourth gold of the day.India have also reached the gold medal round of the men's and women's trap team competitions, assuring themselves of two more silver medals at the very least.Shardul Vihan, Arya Vansh Tyagi and Vivaan Kapoor will clash with US trio of Patrick Thompson, Ernest Carvahlo and Christian Kutz later in the day for the junior men's trap team title.Then India's Preeti Rajak, Sabeera Haris and Bhavya Tripathi will be up against the Italian trio of Marika Patera, Sofia Gori and Sofia Littame in the women's trap team gold medal contest.—PTI

Indian shooters continued to dominate the proceedings at the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany, winning four more gold medals in the women's and men's air rifle and air pistol team events on Friday.

India shooters bag four gold at Junior World Cup

Istanbul: Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain's IBA World Championship campaign in the 70 kg category came to an early end after a disappointing loss in the pre quarter-finals, while compatriot Pooja Rani (81kg) cruised to the last eight stage in Istanbul on Friday.Lovlina, competing in her first international event since her podium finish in Tokyo last year, went down to Cindy Ngamba of Fair Chance Team (FCT) 1-4 in the pre-quarter finals.On the other hand, two-time Asian Champion Pooja notched a facile 5-0 win over Hungary's Timea Nagy in her opening bout.Pooja, the 2014 Asian Games bronze medallist, who is also competing in her first competitive tournament since her disappointing Tokyo Olympics appearance last year, looked completely in control against Nagy.The experienced Indian boxer blended defence and attack to out-punch the Hungarian, who is a two-time World Championships bronze medallist.The Bhiwani boxer will take on Australia's Jessica Bagley in the quarterfinal on Monday.In the first Indian bout of the day, Lovlina started aggressively but looked far from being at her best.The 24-year from Assam, going by her strategy of using her long hands to reach the opponent from afar, was unable to penetrate Ngamba defence.She fared better in the second round but the boxer from FCT defended tightly, avoiding Lovlina's punches while landing several sharp ones on the Indian.&nbsp;Lovlina had defeated former world champion Chen Nien-Chin in the first round.FCT is a team run by the International Boxing Association (IBA), formerly AIBA, from last year's men's World Championships, mainly comprising refugee athletes.The 2017 World Youth Champion Nitu (48kg) and 2019 Asian Championships bronze medallist Manisha (57kg) will play their respective pre-quarterfinal bouts on Saturday.Nitu will face Spain's Lopez Del Arbol while Manisha will square off against Bulgaria's Svetlana Staneva for a place in the quarter-final.—PTI

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain's IBA World Championship campaign in the 70 kg category came to an early end after a disappointing loss in the pre quarter-finals, while compatriot Pooja Rani (81kg) cruised to the last eight stage in Istanbul on Friday.

Boxing Worlds: Lovlina bows out, Pooja advances to quarters

Istanbul: Indian boxer Anamika (50kg) showed her prowess and technical superiority to advance to the pre-quarterfinals of the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships, beating Romania's Eugenia Anghel by unanimous decision in Istanbul on Thursday.The bout started on an aggressive note as both the boxers relentlessly attacked from the word go but Anamika displayed her sharp footwork and body feints to land clear punches while evading her opponent's counters.The boxer from Rohtak continued her relentless attack in the second round and didn't let her opponent settle down. She dictated the terms throughout the whole bout and comfortably won by 5-0 margin to move to the next round.Anamika will next face World Championships bronze medallist Kristy Lee Harris of Australia in the round-of-16 bout on Sunday.Later on Thursday, two other Indian pugilists -- Shiksha (54kg) and Jaismine (60kg) -- are also set to begin their challenge at the prestigious tournament, which has been witnessing high voltage competition in presence of record 310 boxers from 73 countries across the world.Shiksha will be up against Argentina's Herrera Milagros Rosario in the 54kg opening round match while Jaismine (60kg) will square off against two-time youth Asian champion Porntip Buapa of Thailand.Two-time Asian champion Pooja Rani (81kg) and Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain (70kg) will play their respective round-of-16 bouts on Friday.Pooja, who will begin her World Championships campaign, will take on Hungary's Timea Nagy while Lovlina will fight against Cindy Ngamba of Fair Chance Team. Lovlina had defeated former world champion Chen Nien-Chin in the first round on Monday.Late on Wednesday, Saweety (75kg) went down fighting against England's Kerry Davis and lost the bout by 2-3.In the last edition of the tournament, held in Russia in 2019, Indian boxers secured one silver and three bronze medals.—PTI

Indian boxer Anamika (50kg) showed her prowess and technical superiority to advance to the pre-quarterfinals of the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships, beating Romania's Eugenia Anghel by unanimous decision in Istanbul on Thursday.