The first day of the Maharashtra Junior State Athletics Selection Trials in Pune turned out to be a mixed one for the Nagpur athletes.
While most of the athletes failed to finish on the podium, two of them did manage to secure bronze medals for the Nagpur district.
In the 10,000 metres race of the Under-20 boys category, Shadab Pathan clocked 32 minutes and 19 seconds to finish third. Kolhapur’s Vivek More (32.7 sec) and Sushant Jethe of Satara (32.18 sec) achieved the first and second place, respectively.
Nagpur district girls team captain Riya Dohtare lived up to her expectations to bag bronze medal in the 5,000m race clocking 18 minutes and 49 seconds. Satara’s Aksnsha Shelar won the race with a timing of 18.38 seconds, while Prajakta Shinde of Kolhapur had to be satisfied with the runner-up spot with a timing 18.40 seconds.
Both Shadab and Riya train under the guidance of Ravindra Tong at the Reshimbagh ground.
In the evening results, Neha Dhabale grabbed the third place in the 400m hurdles with a timing of 1 minute and 10 secs. A member of the Pro Track and Field Club, Neha trains under Gajanan Thakare.
In the best result of the day for Nagpur athletes, Devashree Lavhe won the silver medal in the 400m run by clocking the timing of 59 seconds. Devashree, a member of the Om Sai Sporting Club, Umred, is a student of coach Praful Bele.
Sourabh Bhusari finished fifth in the 400m run but missed the podium finish.
Nagpur District Athletics Association (NDAA) secretary Sharad Suryavanshi has expressed satisfaction over the performance of the city athletes. NDAA officials Gurudeo Nagrale, Nagesh Sahare, Sanjay Choudhary, Shekhar Suryavanshi, Vivekanand Singh, Aditya Soni, Ramchandra Wani, Bunty Prasad Yadav, Umesh Naidu, SJ Anthony and Archana Kottewar have congratulated the athletes and wished them best luck.
