Kumar, Deepa dominate Pune Zonal cross-country meet

Pune, July 12 (UNI) Long-distance ace runners Deepak Kumar and Deepa Patil of Pune district today overcame a strong field to win the men's and women's races, respectively, in the inaugural Pune Zonal cross-country championship held at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports City Balewadi near here.

National medalist Kumar, who hails from Punjab, clocked 43 minutes 12:04 seconds to win the gold in the demanding 12 kilometer men's race. He got the better off of his teammates Rajesh Ghodekar and Prashant Bhosale, before breezing past the finish at a record time.

The lead changed hands as Prakash Bhosale of Sangli surged ahead followed by Ghodekar, Kumar, Chapatlal and Narenderpal Singh of BEG.

The smooth-striding Kumar suddenly increased the pace and moved in the front closely followed by Bhosale, Chapatlal and Harbhajan Singh.

The tussle became fierce as all the lead bunch of seven runners, belonging to Bombay Engineering Group and Centre (BEG), tried for a breakway. Kumar, however, made his move half kilometers before the finish line and did not look back.

Ghodekar who took eight seconds more than the winner, claimed the silver, while Bhosale bagged the bronze.

The championship was flagged off by the Pune Municipal Tram Sport (PMT) Chairman Sudhir Kale and former Olympian Balkrishna Akotkar.

The Pune district also held events for the boys and girls under-16 and under-14 categories.

The Maharashtra Amateur Athletic Association (MAAA), in a bid to promote and encourage long-distance running, will host total seven zonal cross-country events in July, starting from Pune.

MAAA vice-president Advocate Abhay Chhajed, who is also the Congress city unit president, gave away the prizes. MAAA general secretary Pralhad Sawant and the organising secretary presided over the function.

Among others who graced the occasion included former PMC standing committee chairman Dilip Tupe, Maharashtra Sports and Youth Affairs Deputy Director Janak Tekale, Krida Probhidini principal Vasant Mullick.

The other races were flagged off by Dadoji Kondev awardee Suresh Gujrati, Shiv Chhatrapati awardee Gubans Kaur, international umpire Baptish D'Souza, Santosjh Harale, Manoj Lunkad, Awdoot Mate, national motocross winner Pushkaraj Kenjale and Shrikant Jagtap.

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