Jharkhand women win gold and silver in 20,000m walk

Madurai, Tamil Nadu, Jun 16 (UNI) It was a twin delight for women athletes from Jharkhand, as they clinched both gold and silver medals in the finals of 20,000 metres walk on the second day of the Velammal 48th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championship 2008, here today.

Deepmala Devi clocked 1:47:55.57 to bag the gold medal, while Y Bala Devi clinched silver medal by clocking a time of 1:51:13.58.

The bronze was taken by Supriya Adak of Maharashtra, who finished in 1:53:15:99.

Meanwhile, it was a disappointing finish for both men and women, as they failed to shatter the previous records in the finals of 400 metres hurdles.

In the men's section, P Shankar of Andhra Pradesh took the gold clocking 50.89 seconds, followed by Joseph G Abrharam of Kerala who took 50.97 seconds to grab the silver.

T Balamurugan of Tamil Nadu took the bronze who took 51.95 seconds to cover the distance.

In the women's section, Harpreet Kaur of Jharkhand bagged the gold by clocking 1:31s. Pooja Jakhar of Delhi won the silver clocking 1:44s while West Bengal's Sutapa Das won the bronze clocking 1:02.60s.

Following are the results: Women's 20,000 metres walk: Deepmala Devi (Jharkhand) 1:47:55.57 Y Bala Devi (Jharkhand) 1:51:13.58 Supriya Adak (Maharashtra) 1:53:15.99 Men's 400 m Hurdles: P Shankar (Andhra Pradesh) 50.89 Joseph G Abrharam (Kerala) 50.97 T Balamurugan (Tamilnadu) 51.95 Women's 400 m Hurdles: Harpreet Kaur (Jharkhand) 1:00.31 Pooja Jakhar (Delhi) 1:00.44 Sutapa Das (West Bengal) 1:02.60 MORE UNI GSM GKT RKM KN2123