Olympian Annu Rani triumphs javelin throw title at Indian Open 2025 World Athletics

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], August 10 (ANI): At the Indian Open 2025 World Athletics Bronze Level Continental Tour in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, on Sunday, Olympian Annu Rani outperformed her opponents to take home the women javelin throw championship, according to Olympics.com.

At the Kalinga Stadium, Annu Rani had a top performance of 62.01 meters. The second and third place winners were Sri Lanka N D.L.Hatarabag Leka (56.27m) and Deepika (54.20m). During last week event in Poland, Annu Rani achieved her first throw over 60 meters in more than a year, signalling a successful week on the circuit. In reality, her winning throw of 62.59 meters was also her best in almost two years.

In Bhubaneswar, the 32-year-old Annu managed to log two throws over 60m - the second measuring 61.01m in her penultimate attempt.

In the meantime, Sri Lanka Rumesh Pathirage won the men javelin throw event with a throw of 86.50 meters. Pathirage, who also surpassed the World Championships qualifying mark of 85.50 meters, won bronze at the NC Classic in Bengaluru last month.

Shivam Lohakare was the best javelin throw athlete from India, finishing second with a 80.73m effort, while another Lankan, Sumeda J Ranasinghe, was third with a 80.65m throw. Sachin Yadav (79.80m) and Yashvir Singh (78.53m) finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

Shahnavaz Khan gave Murali Sreeshankar a hard fight, but Sreeshankar ultimately triumphed in the men long jump competition with a season-best leap of 8.13 meters on his last attempt.

Sreeshankar, who was attempting a comeback after being sidelined by injury, has now won four straight competitions. With an 8.05-meter jump to win the Indian Open in Pune last month, he announced his comeback before taking first place in Portugal with a 7.75-meter performance.

He also aced the field at the Qosanov Memorial in Almaty earlier this month with a 7.94m jump.

In Bhubaneswar, Shahnavaz Khan finished second with 8.04m - to become the latest Indian to join the 8 m club in the long jump - in his fourth attempt. Sreeshankar fouled on his penultimate try before sealing the title in his sixth and final attempt. Lokesh Sathyanathan finished third with a 7.85m leap.

Indian Open 2025 World Athletics Continental Tour results

Men 100m: 1. Muhammad Azeem bin Mohd Fahmi (10.35); 2. Chamod Yodasinghe (10.43); 3. Danish Iftikhar Muha (10.50)

Women 100m: 1. Abinaya Rajarajan (11.57); 2. Sneha SS (11.697); 3. Nithya Gandhe (11.700)

Women 100m hurdles: 1. Pragyan Prasanti Sahu (13.74); 2. Nandhini Kongan (13.80); 3. Anjali C (14.00)

Men 200m: 1. Animesh Kujur (20.77); 2. Seunghwan Ko (20.95); 3. Ragul Kumar (21.17)

Women 200m: 1. Angel Silvia (23.95); 2. Nithya Gandhe (24.11); 3. Unnathi Aiyappa (24.56)

Men 400m: 1. Vishal TK (45.72); 2. Amoj Jacob (45.86); 3. Santosh Kumar T (46.89)

Women 400m: 1. Vijayakmari GK (53.40); 2. Devyaniba Mahendras (53.87); 3. Louise Evans (54.28)

Men 800m: 1. Mohammed Afsal P (1:46.60); 2. Prakash Gadade (1:47.14); 3. Krishan Kumar (1:48:00)

Women 800m: 1. Amandeep Kaur (2:04.31); 2. Huidrom Bhumeshwory (2:06.96); 3. Thota Sankeertana (2:07.17)

Women 1500m: 1. Pooja (4:15.13); 2. Lili Das (4:17.66); 3. Amandeep Kaur (4:27.14)

Men 5000m: 1. Waberi Igueh Houssein (14:05.46); 2. Abhishek Pal (14:10.60); 3. Sawan Barwal (14:13.41)

Men javelin throw: 1. Rumesh Pathirage (86.50m); 2. Shivam Lohakare (80.73m); 3. Sumeda J Ranasinghe (80.65m)

Women javelin throw: 1. Annu Rani (62.01m); 2. N D.L.Hatarabag Leka (56.27m); 3. Deepika (54.20m)

Men triple jump: 1. Abdulla Aboobacker (16.53); 2. Karthik Unnikrishnan (16.42); 3. Gailey Venister D (16.26)

Men long jump: 1. Murali Sreeshankar (8.13m); 2. Shahnavaz Khan (8.04m); 3. Lokesh Sathyanathan (7.85m)

Women long jump: 1. Shaili Singh (6.28m); 2. Bhavani Yadav Bhagawati (6.13m); 3. Sandra Babu (6.10m)

Men 4x400m relay: 1. Sri Lanka (3:08.22); 2. India A (3:08.37); 3. Iraq (3:08.74). (ANI)

Disclaimer: This news article is a direct feed from ANI and has not been edited by the News Nation team. The news agency is solely responsible for its content.