Dheeraj wins gold in 800m

Athletes from the East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand dominated the opening day of the fifth National Inter-district athletics meet that got underway at Haridwar’s BHEL Sports Complex.

According to information reaching here, Dhiraj Soni and Roshan Xalxo from East Singhbhum district were on the verge finishing 1-2 in the 800m race in the under-16 boys’ section, but their party was spoiled by Delhi’s (South district) Manoj Kumar who sneaked in to take the silver behind Soni.

In a keenly contested race, Soni clocked 2:02 seconds for gold edging past Manoj whose finished the race in 2:02.9 seconds. Xalxo had to settle at the third spot (2:03.2 seconds).

The under-14 girls’ 800m race was also dominated by East Singhbhum district with Shweta Tirkey winning the second gold of the day. Her winning time was 2:31.4. Sonia from Baghpat (Uttar Pradesh) district went on to claim the silver in 2:33.1.