Bollanda Unnathi Aiyappa set the new meet record in women’s 100 mts hurdles at the ongoing South Asian Junior Athletic Meet, here yesterday.
She won the event with a record timing of 13.93 sec beating the old timing of 14.19 sec set by S. Kumari of Sri Lanka in 2018 at Colombo. However, this was not Unnathi’s best as she had previously completed the event with a personal best timing of 13.66 sec at an event held in Dubai earlier this year.
Unnathi is the daughter of International athletics coach B.P. Aiyappa and Olympian Pramila Aiyappa (Guddanda).
Indian athletes bagged a total of nine gold medals out of 10 in the offing with Ritik (55.64 mts, old record 54.44 mts set by Sachin in 2013 at Ranchi) and Anisha (49.91 mts, old record 48.60 mts set by A. Bajwa in 2018 at Colombo) setting new meet records in men’s and women’s discus throw.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports / September 13th, 2024
Athlete Bollanda Unnathi Aiyappa, who had won a gold medal setting a new meet record in the South Asian Junior Athletic Meet at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, here on Thursday, won her second gold medal setting another new meet record in women’s 200 mts on last day of the Meet.
Unnathi completed the race in the record timing of 23.91sec beating the old record of 24.32 mts set by A. Suseedran at Ranchi in 2013. India’s Nancy (23.11 sec) and Neeru Pathak (29.91 sec) finished in second and third place respectively.
Speaking to Star of Mysore, Unnathi Aiyappa said, she was delighted for having won two gold medals and added that she was in the best of the form because of continuous travelling.
“After World Junior event, I was not able to give my best. I took part in the South Asian Junior Championship with no expectations. But, having won two gold medals has delighted me,” she said.
Though, this was event of the season, Unnathi will be seen in action at the All India Inter University Athletic Championship to be held in December. She is the daughter of Intl. Athletic Coach B.P. Aiyappa and Olympian G.G. Pramila Aiyappa (Guddanda), residents of Bengaluru.
Meanwhile, city’s Thelapanda K. Bopanna won bronze in the men’s 800 mts run. He won bronze with a timing of 1:50.45 sec behind Sri Lanka’s H.D.S. Awishka (1:49.83sec) and India’s Vinod Kumar (1:50.07sec) who won gold and silver respectively.
Bopanna is the son of Dentist T.M. Kalappa and Rachana Kalappa, residents of V.V. Mohalla in Mysuru.
India with a total of 48 medals (21 gold, 22 silver and 5 bronze) finished in the top position of the medals tally followed by Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in second and third positions.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports / September 14th, 2024
The 18-year-old from Karnataka is making giant strides on the big circuit.
Karnataka’s Unnathi Aiyappa is headed to the World Athletics U20 Championships to be held in Lima, Peru in August after qualifying in both the women’s 100m hurdles and 200m events. Credit: PTI Photo
Bengaluru:
Unnathi Aiyappa is in the midst of a transitional period. It is a phase where every decision the teen athlete makes in the present is to help her leapfrog towards cementing future goals. Her recent results are a testimony to this.
After having already qualified for the women’s World Athletics Under-20 Championships 100m hurdles to be held in Lima (Peru) from August 27-31, the 18-year-old from Karnataka breached the qualification mark for the 200m race as well by winning the gold at the National Senior Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar on Monday with a personal best timing of 23.85 seconds.
Less than a month ago, the youngster had finished with a bronze medal in the 100m hurdles at the Asian U-20 Athletics Championships in Dubai.
“Our main goal is to get Unnathi to become a 400m hurdler,” says father and coach BP Aiyappa. “Whatever we are doing now with the 100m hurdles and 200m is a preparation towards that goal,” he adds.
Speaking about the races over the last few days, Unnathi, who ran a mistake-laden semifinal where she was slow off the blocks and in the curve, focussed on overcoming the flaws in the final where she was chasing time more than the gold. The ‘unexpected win was extra special, says the girl from Kodagu as she beat seasoned sprinter Srabani Nanda in a photo finish for her first medal at a senior meet.
“We will get her to compete in four more events before the World Juniors and based on the progress in both the events (200m and 100m hurdles), my idea is to enter in only one event in Lima. I don’t want to put too much load on her body as a junior and she will focus on these two disciplines for another year-and-a-half. We will completely switch to 400m hurdles only after that,” explained Aiyappa.
“The 400m hurdles has a rhythm to it which is addictive. But 400m is just going all out. It’s boring,” says the daughter of Olympian Pramila Aiyappa.
If fine-tuning her running skills or blazing the tracks is her primary vocation, the teen is part of a growing brigade of Indian women athletes who enjoy upping the fashion quotient while competing or off it.
“I recently learnt how to braid my hair. I wore some eye-liner and lipstick and did some nail art for the first-time while racing in Dubai and here. It is important to look pretty when you win. No?!,” reasons Unnathi, who takes inspiration from USA’s sprint star Sha’Carri Richardson.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Sports> Other Sports / by Hita Prakash / May 15th, 2024
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