Neelam Kadam shocks Asian gold medalist Rohini Raut

Pune, May 1 (UNI) Little known Neelam Kadam from Raigad district spoiled the chances of Asian Cross Country gold medalist Rohini Raut of Nagpur District to win the gold in the 3000-meter event for girls, clocking 10 minutes 42.06 seconds on the opening day of the Under-18 Maharashtra State Youth Athletics championship which got underway here today.

The gritty lass did not get overawed by a strong field that consisted of the seasoned and established twin sister duo of Rohini and Monica Raut from Nagpur.

The race got off to a slow start with Rupali Talekar in the lead, taking one minute 25 seconds for the first 400-meter lap. Keeping a steady pace, Neelam surged ahead after the first kilometer leaving the pack behind. Increasing the pace, she did not allow either anyone to dictate terms before breezing past the finish line, leaving Rohini and Rupali Talekar (Kolhapur) in their strides.

Rohini claimed the silver with a time of 10:46:1 while Rupali took the bronze producing a time of 10:48:7. Monica finished way behind clinching the fourth slot with a time of 10:58:2.

The two-day meet has attracted 550 athletes from 32 district units. The meet will serve to select the Maharashtra squad for the Under-18 Youth National Athletics Championship to be held in Bangalore on June 1 and 2.

The meet was formally inaugurated by Maharashtra Amateur Athletic Association (MAAA) President Adile Sumariwala.

Following are the results: Girls Under-18: 3000 Meters: Neelam Kadam (Raigad) 1, Rohini Raut (Nag) 2, Rupali Talekar (Kol) 3. Time: 10:42:06.

100 Meters: Sonali Gargote (Pune) 1, Sayali Dravid (Pune) 2, Saraswati Nimkar (Kol) 3. Time: 12:8 secs.

Long Jump: Shradha Ghule (Thane) 1, Sweta Vishwakarma (Mum Sub) 2, Pooja Vargar (Pune) 3. Distance: 5.05 Metres.

100 Meters Hurdles: Deepika Warke (Nsk) 1, Sonali Gargote (Pune) 2. Time: 15.3 secs.

Triple Jump: Pooja Barate (Sol) 1, Jyoti Chintamani (Sol) 2.

Distance: 9.66 Metres.

400 Meters: Shriya Vidwans (Thane) 1. Time: 1:00:00.

1500 Meters: Neelam Kadam (Raigad) 1, Monica Raut (Nag) 2, Pooja Barate (A'Nagar) 3. Time: 5:05:00.

Boys Under 18 : 100 Meters: Annirudh Gujar (Sat) 1, Tejas Salian (Thane) 2, Karan Mane (Pune) 3. Time: 11.3 secs.

Long Jump: Tejas Salian (Thane) 1, Shaba Bhagat (Mum Sub) 2, Ishan M (Mum Sub) 3. Dist: 6.64 Metres.

110 Meters Hurdles: Sabha Bhagat (Mum Sub) 1, Rama Shankar Bharati (Mum Sub) 2, Chetan Patil (Sangli) 3. Time: 15:00 secs.

Triple Jump: Pushkar Mehunkar (Mum Sub) 1, Ishan Muli (Mum Sub) 2, Sachin Rathore (Pune) 3. Dist: 13.83 Metres.

400 Meters: Gulab Singh Wasawe (Pune) 1, Datta Zodge (Pune) 2, Shaikh Mujahid (A'nagar) 3. Time: 51.3 secs.

5000 Meters: Sandeep Kalgude (Kol) 1, Srikant Bhosale (Pune) 2, Prakash Ghande (Raigad) 3. Time: 16:39:4.

1500 Meters: Sandeep Kalgude (Kol) 1, Rajesh Khandwa (Pune) 2, Bhimer Singh Wasawe (Pune) 3. Time: 4:23:3.

UNI