Darshan Singh (Services) and Varsha Devi (Railways) finally kept their tryst with the men’s and women’s crowns in the National Cross Country Championships by winning their 10km events in the picturesque but tough course, made more challenging by 60 per cent humidity and gusts of wind, here on Saturday.
Having played key roles in their respective team’s victories, their joy was enhanced even more as they claimed the South Asian titles as the second SAFF Cross Country Championships was run concurrently. They tasted international success on appearance, having had to miss out on the 2020 competition in Sri Lanka – postponed at first and then moved here.
Results:
National Championships:
Men (10km): 1. Darshan Singh (Services) 31:08.00; 2. Dipak Suhaug (Services) 31:32.00; 3. Rajendra Nath (Services) 31:36.00. Team: 1. Services (Darshan Singh, Dipak Suhaug, Rajendra Nath and Deepak Singh Rawat) 10 points; 2. Railways 44; 3. Uttarakhand 61.
Women (10km): 1. Varsha Devi (Railways) 37:14.00; 2. Manju Yadav (Railways) 37:26.00; 3. Preenu Yadav (Railways) 37:38.00. Team: 1. Railways (Varsha Devi, Manju Yadav, Preenu Yadav, Munni Devi) 10 points; 2. Himachal Pradesh 113; 3. Nagaland 148.
Men U20 (8km): 1. Akash Patel (Uttarakhand) 25:58.00; 2. Prashant Choudhary (Delhi) 26:00.00; 3. Pankaj Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 26:02.00. Team: 1. Uttar Pradesh (Akash Patel, Pankaj Kumar, Love Chaudhary, Vinit Rathi) 19 points; 2. Delhi 35; 3. Maharashtra 52.
Women U20 (6km): 1. Ashakiran Barla (Jharkhand) 22:47.00; 2. Drashtiben Pravinbhai Chauhan (Gujarat) 22:53.00; 3. Maya Kumari (Jharkhand) 23:03.00. Team: 1. Maharashtra (Vishakha Sanjay Salunkhe, Shivani Kulkarni, Pallavi Chandrakant Jagdale, Bhagyashree Bhaskar Bhandari) 38 points; 2. Haryana 66; 3. Rajasthan 67.
Boys U18 (6km): 1. Ritik Sharma (Jammu and Kashmir) 19:50.00; 2. Walter Kandulna (Tamil Nadu) 19:54.00; 3. Sujit Tikode (Maharashtra) 19:54.00.
Girls U18 4km: 1. Aakancha Kerketta (Tamil Nadu) 14:38.00; 2. Sonam (Delhi) 14:49.00; 3. Ruhi Bohra (Delhi) 14:52.00.
Boys U16 2km: 1. Aman Kumar (Haryana) 6:00.00; 2. Priyanshu (Uttarakhand) 6:03.00; 3. Harish Mullu (Andhra Pradesh) 6:06.00.
Girls U16 2km: 1. Basanti Kumari (Tamil Nadu) 7:06.00; 2. Pranathi (Karnataka) 7:13.00; 3. Heena (Haryana) 7:14.00.
SAAF Championships:
Men 10km: 1. Darshan Singh (India) 31:08.00; 2. RNS Pushpakumara (Sri Lanka) 33:12.00; 3. Pal Mukesh Bahadur (Nepal) 34:08.00. Team: 1. India (Darshan Singh, Dipak Suhaug, Rajendra Nath) 6 points; 2. Sri Lanka 16; 3. Nepal 28.
Women 10km: 1. Varsha Devi (India) 37:14.00; 2. Pachchai Rajpura (Nepal) 38:48.00; 3. MSP Madhumali Perera (Sri Lanka) 39:38.00. Team: 1. India (Varsha Devi, Manju Yadav, Preenu Yadav) 6 points; 2. Sri Lanka 19; 3. Nepal 20.
Men U20 8km: 1. Akash Patel (Uttarakhand) 25:58.00; 2. KMJD MAdushan (Sri Lanka) 29:24.00; 3. Karki Badal (Nepal) 29:20.00; Team: 1. India (Akash Patel, Prashant Choudhary, Pankaj Kumar) 6 points; 2. Sri Lanka 17; 3. Bangladesh 30.
Women U20 (6km): 1. Asha Kiran Barla (India) 22:47.00; 2. Budha Ram Maya (Nepal) 23:36.00; 3. Rinky Biswas (Bangladesh) 24:03.00. Team: 1. India (Ashakiran Barla, Drashtiben Pravinbhai Chaudhri, Maya Kumari) 6 points; 2. Sri Lanka 21; 3. Nepal 25.
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