Glasgow: India’s track and field athletes endured mixed fortunes at the 20th Commonwealth Games here on Friday. While the country made it through to the final of the men’s triple jump and javelin throw, the men’s 4x400-metre and women’s 4x100 relay teams were both ousted in the qualification round.
India’s Arpinder Singh advanced to the final of the men’s triple jump, finishing second with a jump of 16.51 metres.
The Punjab athlete’s national record-setting jump of 17.17-metres in the 54th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in June made him the Commonwealth and Asian leader this season.
The 22-year-old got a no jump in his first two attempts but in his third and final jump he soared to 16.51 metres, only to be bettered by Nigeria’s Tosin Oke (16.75).
Meanwhile, two out of three javelin throwers — Ravinder Singh Khaira and Vipin Kasana — also made it to the final of their event, with Davinder Singh missing out.
With a throw of 72.18 metres, Khaira advanced from qualification group A, while Kasana recorded 71.95 metres in qualification group B. Davinder (group B) could only manage a throw of 70.56 and failed to make the cut.
Khaira and Kasana got through by the skin of their teeth, qualifying in 11 and 12th places respectively. Only the top 12 qualify for the final event. With a throw of 85.28 metres, Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott headed the field.
The women’s 4x100-metre relay team of Narayana Sharadha, Asha Roy, Srabani Nanda and Jyothi Manjunath finished fifth in heat 1, but their time of 44.81 seconds was not good enough to get through.
Jamaica posted the fastest time 42.44 seconds in the heats.
The men’s 4x400-metre relay team of Kunhu Mohammad, Jithu Baby, Jibin Sebastian and Rajiv Arokia had a disastrous outing as they failed to post a time after being disqualified.
