Jyothi Yarraji, an athlete from Andhra Pradesh, delivered an outstanding performance to earn a gold medal in the women’s 100m hurdles at the Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships. Yarraji beat her own meet record in Ranchi on Wednesday, completing the race in 12.89 seconds in the final and easily surpassing the qualification standard set by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) for the upcoming Asian Championships in Bangkok.
On Tuesday, Yarraji had already broken the meet record in the heats by finishing in just 13.18 seconds. She was followed by R Nithya Ramraj of Tamil Nadu, who clocked in at 13.44 seconds, while Sapna Kumari of Jharkhand finished in third place with a time of 13.58 seconds.
In the men’s 110m hurdles event, Tejas Ashok Shirse from Maharashtra emerged as the clear winner with a time of 13.72 seconds.
Twinkle from Punjab showcased her talent in the women’s 800m heats, clocking a time of 2:05.39, which was below the Asian qualifying mark of 2:05.74 seconds. Meanwhile, in the men’s 800m heats, only two athletes- Ankesh Chaudhary of Himachal Pradesh and Anu Kumar of Uttarakhand- finished with times below 1:50.
Jyothi Yarraji’s performance in the Federation Cup Athletics Championships makes her a strong potential contender for the upcoming Asian Championships in Bangkok scheduled to take place from July 12-16.