Ayush Dabas.
Ayush Dabas of Haryana and 16-year-old Rupal Chaudhary of Uttar Pradesh emerged as the fastest male and female quarter-milers in the third National Open 400m Championships here on Tuesday.
Dabas ran his second sub-47 second one-lapper in a fortnight, backing up his 46.58 second effort in National U-23 Championships here on September 28 with a victory in 46.86 seconds in the men’s final on Tuesday.
He was pushed by Tamil Nadu’s Surendar Selvamani who was the only other sprinter to stop the clock below 48 seconds. Yet, it was 16-year-old Rupal who was the cynosure of all eyes, with her girls U-18 triumph coming in a personal best time of 53.73 seconds. She bettered her previous best of 55.37 seconds, clocked during the National Junior Athletics Championships in Guntur in 2019.
There was also an emotional win for Jammu and Kashmir’s Abrar Choudhary in the boys U-20 final. With a determined effort, he turned the tables on Pankaj (Rajasthan), who was the fastest in the heats. There was some consolation for Rajasthan as Rahul Kumar Githala claimed the boys U-18 crown in 48.33 seconds.
