National Inter-State Athletics Championships: Day 2 Live Updates

Several high-profile athletes will have a final chance to book their spot for the Tokyo Olympics.

8:50 PM That concludes the action from Day 2 of the National Inter-State Athletics Championships. Thank you for joining us. Hope you enjoyed our live updates coverage. See you again tomorrow for all the action from Day 3 of the tournament. Until then, take care and stay safe! Keep following Khel Now for all the latest updates from the world of sports.

8:45 PM Ace Indian archers Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das will be in action on Sunday in the finals of the Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Paris. Follow Khel Now for all the live updates tomorrow as the biggest names in Indian archery will have a shot at glory, in a bid to boost their confidence ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

8:40 PM In another good news, Sajan Prakash becomes the first Indian swimmer to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. He clocks 1:56:38 in men's 200m butterfly at the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome.

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8:30 PM In the final event of day two of the National Inter-State Athletics Championships, Usaid Khan of Uttar Pradesh wins the men's 1500m decathlon event, with timing of 4:46.33. Kerala's Gokul S and Maharashtra's Kushal Kumar Mohite finished second and third, after clocking 4:49.83 and 4:51.52 respectively.

8:20 PM Elsewhere, Indian archer Abhishek Verma wins a Gold medal in the compound event at the Archery World Cup Stage 3 in Paris.

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8:05 PM Amasha De Silva of Sri Lanka came second, achieving a timing of 11.59 secs. Tamil Nadu's Archana Suseendran finished third with 11.60 secs. Ace sprinter Dutee Chand could manage timing of 11.62 secs. The Olympic Qualifying mark was 11.15 secs.

8:02 PM Surprisingly enough, Dutee Chand finishes in the fourth spot. Dhana Lakshmi of Tamil Nadu wins the race with a timing of 11.52 secs.

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7:58 PM Dutee Chand and Dhana Lakshmi went toe to toe in the 100m.

7:55 PM The women's 100m run will begin now. All eyes will be on Dutee Chand. However, Hima Das will not take part in it due to an injury sustained in the heats today morning.

7:50 PM Gurinder Singh of Punjab wins the men's 100m sprint, clocking 10.27 secs. His compatriot Lovepreet Singh comes second with 10.47 secs. Odisha's Amiya Kumar Mallick takes the third spot with 10.49 secs. The Olympic Qualifying mark was 10.05 secs.

7:45 PM Elsewhere at the Punjabi University ground, Tejaswin Shankar of Kansas state who turned up in the Delhi jersey, wins the gold medal in the men's high jump with a distance of 2.20m. The Olympic Qualifying mark was 2.33m.

7:35 PM The eye-catching men's and women's 100m sprint will commence soon.

7:25 PM M.P. Jabir of Kerala comfortably wins the men's 400m hurdles event, with a timing of 49.78 secs. Sathish K of Tamil Nadu took the second spot after clocking 51.90 secs. Another athlete from Tamil Nadu, Pravin Kumar came third with 52.77 secs. The Olympic Qualifying mark was 48.90 secs.

7:10 PM The women's 400m hurdles event has just concluded. Shalini Valuparambil Krishna from Kerala won the race with a timing of 1:01.63. Punjab's Khushdeep Kaur came in second place after clocking 1:04.52. Nirmal Punia from Haryana occupied third place with a timing of 1:05.68. It is a far cry from the Olympic Qualification mark of 55.40 secs.

7:00 PM Meanwhile at the Punjabi University, the women's shot put event has concluded. Manpreet Kaur of Punjab won the event with a distance of 16.95m. Srishti Big of Delhi and Kiran Baliyan of Uttar Pradesh occupied the second and third spot respectively, after recording a throw of 15.96m and 15.75m respectively. The Olympic qualification mark was 18.50m.

6:50 PM It will need a mammoth effort from the Indian women to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in the 400m hurdles. The national record belongs to the legendary P.T. Usha, who had achieved a timing of 55.42 secs. at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Her historic achievement needs to be eclipsed for someone to even qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. The qualifying mark today will be 55.40 secs.

6:30 PM The women's shot put heptathlon will be the next event. The eagerly anticipated women's and men's 400m hurdles will follow soon.

6:10 PM Earlier in the day, Shaili Singh from Uttar Pradesh shattered two records in the women's long jump. She broke a 20-year-old youth national record with a 6.19m jump in her first attempt. This was followed by the youngster achieving a distance of 6.48m, to break the Under-20 national mark. She is now a serious contender for an Under-20 World Championship medal. However, the Olympic Qualification mark was 6.82m.

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6:00 PM The men's javelin throw decathlon will be the first event of today's evening session.

5:50 PM The most impressive performer at the recently concluded Indian Athletics Grand Prix 4 was shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor. He qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with a hefty throw of 21.49m. The 26-year-old’s previous best was 20.92m. In fact, Toor went past the qualifying mark of 21.10m with each of his four legal puts. Therefore, he became the 11th individual Indian track and field athlete to qualify for Tokyo 2020. Several players will be looking to repeat the same feat at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships.

Here’s the list of Indian athletes who have already booked their place in the Tokyo Olympics:

• KT Irfan, Men’s 20km race walking
• Sandeep Kumar, Men’s 20km race walking
• Rahul Rohilla, Men’s 20km race walking
• Avinash Sable, Men’s 3000m steeplechase
• Murali Sreeshankar, Men’s long jump
• Neeraj Chopra, Men’s javelin throw
• Shivpal Singh, Men’s javelin throw
• Kamalpreet Kaur, Women’s discus throw
• Bhawna Jat, Women’s 20km race walking
• Priyanka Goswami, Women’s 20km race walking
• Tajinderpal Toor, Men’s shot put
• Muhammed Anas, VK Vismaya, Jisna Mathew, and Noah Nirmal Tom (4×400 Mixed Relay Team)

5:40 PM Hello and welcome to Khel Now’s live updates of the National Inter-State Athletics Championships.

The National Inter-State Athletics Championships, an Olympic qualifier, will be the last chance for Indian athletes to book their place in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. The events that are lined up at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships today are shot put heptathlon, 200m heptathlon, 400m hurdles and 100m run for women while the men will participate in javelin throw decathlon, 1500m decathlon, 100m run and 400m hurdles.

Several high-profile names such as Dutee Chand, M Sreeshankar, Kamalpreet Kaur, Tajinderpal Singh Toor, Shivpal Singh, Muhammed Anas, Harmilan Bains, Annu Rani, Seema Punia and many others will be in action in the tournament. The 60th edition of the National Inter-State Athletics Championships will take place from June 25 to June 29 at the National Institute of Sports and the Punjabi University in Patiala. The National Inter-State Athletics Championships is the last chance for heavyweights Hima Das and Dutee Chand to seal a berth at the Tokyo Olympics.For more updates, follow Khel Now on Twitter, Instagram and join our community on Telegram.