Swati bags gold in 6-km cross country race for girls under-20

Pune, Dec 16 (UNI) Sixteen-year-old Swati Gadhve produced a fantastic performance to upset the apple cart of sisters Monica and Rohini Raut to claim the gold in the 6-km race for girls under-20 in the state cross-country championship here today.

Swati, who had finished 4th in the Asian Cross Country meet in Jordan, came into her own after the third round, overtaking Pooja Warade of Amednagar and the Raut siblings to take the gold in a timing of 21 minutes and 52.9 seconds.

Manisha Salunke of Sangli took the silver producing a time of 22:03.7, while Reshma Dalvi of Pune bagged the bronze stopping the clock at 22:12.6.

Monica took the fifth spot, while Rohini gave up the race after the second lap. It was 16-year-old Ahmednagar lass Pooja who impressed the most but finished fourth in a time of 22.31.8.

In the men's section, gutsy Parshuram Bhoie of Kolhapur produced a rabbit out of the hat to claim the gold in the demanding 12-km race right by leading from the start to finish and stopping the clock at 36 minutes and 58.2 seconds. Pravin Kumar of Pune claimed the silver producing a time of 37:10.1 while team-mate Deepak Kumar bagged the bronze with a time of 37:36.4.

Bhoie was in excellent fettle after winning the half (21-km) marathons at Aurangabad and Osmanabad recently. He shot into the lead and did not allow anyone to come near him in the race.

Setting a brisk pace, Bhoie ran with rhythm to get the better of Pravin Kumar and Deepak Kumar of Army Sports Institute (ASI) who ran under the Pune district banner. Pravin, however, matched Bhoie for the first two rounds but fell back afterwards. Pravin had to rest content with the silver while Deepak Kumar was placed third.

The women's 8-km race was monopolised by Vijaymala Patil of Sangli who overcame a strong field to caputure the gold in a time of 29 minutes and 48.4 seconds. Neelam Kadam of Raigad gave Patil some anxious and bagged the silver, clocking 29:56.2 while Anuja Bijagare of Nagpur breezed past the finish in a time of 30:00.4 to claim the bronze.

Earlier, the races were flagged off by industrialist Vijay Zanwar who also felicitated Krishna Kumar Rane, winner of the gold medal at the recently-concluded SAF games at Colombo, and Tanvi Shanbag who was the member of the girls relay team.

Following are the results: Men's (12-km): Parshuram Bhoie (Kol) (36:58.2) 1, Pravin Kumar (Pune) (37:10.1) 2, Deeak Kumar (Pune) (37:36.4) 3, Maruti Dolas (Mum City) (37:46.3) 4, Ramesh Pal (Pune) (38:01.9) 5, Lingappa Sargar (Mum City) (38:11.9) 6.

Women's (8-km): Vijaymala Patil (Sangli) (29:48.4) 1, Neelam Kadam (Raigad) (29:56.2) 2, Anuja Bijagare (Nagpur) (30:00.4) 3, Nikita Nagpure (Ahmednagar) (30:42.0) 4, Nisha Wankhede (Nagpur) (32:22.6) 5, Bhagyashri Khanekar (Pune) 6.

Girls Under-20 (6-km): Swati Gadhve (Pune) (21:52.9) 1, Manisha Salunke (Sangli) (22:03.7) 2, Reshma Dalvi (Pune) (22:12.6) 3, Pooja Warade (Ahmednagar) (22:31.8) 4, Monica Raut (Nagpur) (22:48.4) 5, Manjula Patil (Sangli) (22:56.3) 6.

UNI