Indian sports wrap, January 13: Tamil Nadu’s Sam and Parthipa fastest in 100m at Inter-University Athletics
ATHLETICS
Inter-University Athletics C’Ships: Tamil Nadu, Kerala pick two gold each on Day 2
S. Sam Vasanth has sprinting in his genes. His mother Kalaiselvi, a tailor by profession, is a gold medallist in 100m and 200m at the Masters Nationals. The youngster made his mother proud as he emerged as the fastest man in the 100m at the 85 th All-India Inter-University Athletics Championships in Mengaluru on Tuesday.
After breaking V. Elakkiyadasan’s eight-year-old meet record in the morning’s semifinal, clocking 10.39s, Coimbatore’s Bharathiar University’s Sam won the 100m gold in 10.44s.
“I knew I’d win after I broke the record,” said Sam, a student of Coimbatore’s Kongunadu Arts and Science College.
Tamil Nadu also produced the meet’s fastest woman in 100m with Madras University’s Parthipa Selvaraj shocking Sreena Narayanan – the country’s second-fastest athlete last year with her 11.44s at the MG University meet in Kochi in December – to grab the gold with a personal best 11.74s.
“I expected a fast time today, everything felt good from start to finish,” said Parthipa, from Chennai’s MOP Vaishnava College.
Meanwhile, Kerala picked two women’s gold today, through MG University triple jumper Aleena Saji and Calicut’s 400m hurdler Delna Philip.
The morning session witnessed plenty of drama. Lovely Professional University’s Anju upset junior Asian silver medallist Laxita Vinod and won the women’s 800m, but strangely evaded photographers and ran away from the venue soon after the event. The National Anti-Doping Agency landed last night and began testing athletes today.
-Team Sportstar
RESULTS
Men
100m: 1. S. Sam Vasanth (Bharathiar, Coimbatore)10.44s (broke Elakkiyadasan’s meet record in semifinal clocking 10.39), 2. Vibhaskar Kumar (Mangalore) 10.57, 3. Gitson Tharmara (Madras) 10.59.
800m: 1. Sanket (MD, Rohtak) 1:48.95s, 2. Deore Prathames (Mangalore) 1:49.09, 3. Amit Kaur (Chhatrapati Sahu)1:49.37.
400m hurdles: 1. S. Mahendran (Madras) 51.35s, 2. Aryan Prajwal Kashyapa (Mangalore) 51.55, 3. A. Karthik Raja (Manomanian) 51.83.
High jump: 1. Sudeep (KUVEMPI) 2.11m, 2. S. Mohammed Fazil (Madras) 2.09, 3. Aditya Raghuvanshi (Chandigarh) 2.06.
Shot put: 1. Varinder Pal Singh (Chandigarh) 18.22m, 2 Sawan (Chandigarh) 18.06, 3. Aniket (Mangalore) 17.98).
20km walk: 1. Vihvendra Singh (RIMT) 1:25:50.07s, 2. Sarvajeet Patel (DRML) 1:27:28.03, 3. Dasharath N. Talawar (Bengaluru City) 1:30:03.98.
Women
100m: 1. Parthipa Selvaraj (Madras) 11.74s, 2. Subdharshini (SRM) 11.89, 3. Tanisha Raghav (Delhi) 11.93.
800m: 1. Anju (Lovely Professional) 2:08.43s, 2. Anjali (GNDU) 2:09.50, 3. Laxmi Priya Kisan (KIIT) 2:10.59.
400m hurdles: 1. Delna Philip (Calicut) 1:00.12s, 2. Deekshitha Rama Gowda (Mangalore) 1:00.96, 3. Megha Munavallimath (Dharwad) 1:01.64.
Triple jump: 1. Aleena Saji (Mahatma Gandhi, Kottayam) 12.79m, 2. Sadhana Ravi (SRM, Chennai) 12.74, 3. Preeti (MGS) 12.52.
Discus throw: 1. Saniya Yadav (TSB) 53.45m, 2. Priya (Chandigarh) 51.95, 3. Ujjwal Kasana (GNDU) 49.57.
20km walk: 1. Chaudhari Gayat Ganesh (SPP)1:40:15.41s, 2. Baljeet Kaur (TSB) 1:41.37.12, 3. Nikita Lamba (Chandigarh) 1:43:54.43.
-Team Sportstar
GOLF
Jasmine takes lead in opening leg of 2026 WPG Tour
Jasmine Shekar sunk in two late birdies for a solid round of 3-under 67, that gave her the sole lead after the opening round of the first leg of the 2026 Women’s Pro Golf Tour in Mumbai Tuesday.
Jasmine, who won one title in the previous season, was one shot clear of young pro Lavanya Jadon, who also had one win last season.
Lavanya carded 2-under 68 and the only other player with a par or better score was former winner, Seher Atwal (70), at the Par-70 layout at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club.
Sneha Singh and Amandeep Drall, two of the multiple winners in 2025, were among five players who shot 2-over 72 and were tied fourth.
Debutant pro Saanvi Somu had a tough start with 6-over 76 and was 19th, while Vidhatri Urs (77) had three straight double bogeys on the back nine and was Tied-20th.
-PTI
BOXING
CA Kuttappa returns as head coach of Indian men’s boxing team
Dronacharya awardee C.A. Kuttappa has returned as the head coach of the Indian men’s boxing team for a third stint, the Boxing Federation of India confirmed on Tuesday.
The Services man replaces Sports Authority of India’s Rohtak coach Dharmender Yadav, who was appointed last year. Yadav, however, will continue to be part of the men’s coaching setup.
“Yes CA Kuttappa has been appointed as the coach in charge and Dharmender Yadav will also continue to be a part of the coach staff,” BFI Executive Director Col Arun Malik told PTI.
The change at the helm comes in the wake of an underwhelming couple of years for Indian men’s boxing.
Only two male boxers managed to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics, and the slide continued at the 2025 World Championships in Liverpool, where the men’s contingent failed to win a single medal for the first time in 12 years.
Kuttappa is no stranger to the role, having previously served as the men’s head coach during both the Tokyo and Paris Olympics.
-PTI
Published on Jan 13, 2026