Leading from the front seems to be the mantra for Riya Dohtare. The Nagpur district girls team captain Riya grabbed the gold medal in the 3000m race on the second day of the Maharashtra Junior State Athletics Selection Trials at the Sant Dnyaneshwar Sports Complex, Pimpri Chinchwad in Pune on Wednesday.
Riya, a member of the Track Star Athletic Club, clocked 10 minutes and 50.20 seconds to clinch the top spot.
Earlier, Riya had bagged silver in the 5000m event. However, her club mate Shadab Pathan finished fourth in the 5000m race. Both competed in the Under-20 category.
In the Under-18 girls 5000m walking competition, Tulsi Choudhari claimed the second position. She needed 30 minutes and 24.90 seconds to finish the 5-km walk. Tulsi is a member of Jay Athletics Club and has been training under Sunil Kapgate.
Even after her father’s demise in November, 2020, Mitali Bhoyar didn’t stop her training and won a silver medal in the 1500m race while competing in the U-18 girls section.
Mitali, a member of Nav Maharashtra Krida Mandal, notched up second place in the 1,500m with timing of 5 minutes and .02 seconds. Taking her father’s death in her strides, Mitali did not lose her focus and concentrated on her practice.
In her hour of crisis, Mitali got strong support from her coach Jitendra Ghordadekar and other members of Nav Maharashtra Krida Mandal. Her family members also supported her a lot. Thanks to her support team, she was able to continue her practice.
In the district selection trials held a few days ago, she secured first place and showed that she was well prepared for the state championship. This is her second successive medal in the state championship. In 2019, she won bronze in the 2000m race in the U-16 girls section. She is a student of Pandit Bachharaj Vyas Mahavidyalaya.
NDAA secretary Sharad Suryavanshi has expressed satisfaction over the performance of city athletes. NDAA officials Gurudeo Nagrale, Nagesh Sahare, Dr Sanjay Choudhary, Shekhar Suryavanshi, Dr Vivekanand Singh, Dr Aditya Soni, Ramchandra Wani, Bunty Prasad Yadav, Umesh Naidu, SJ Anthony, Archana Kottewar have congratulated the athletes and wished them best luck.
