Mumbai’s Zarir Balliwala wins age category podium in 5 km swim in Bali

Mumbai’s Zarir Balliwala won in his age category in a five kilometre-swim at the Oceanman Asian Championship, held in Bali from July 7 to 9, 2023.

The 62 year-old placed first in the men’s 60-69 years age category with a finish in two hours, 19 minutes and 24 seconds. He finished 75th from among 175 swimmers.

The championship featured races over 1 km, 2 km, 5 km and 10 km. Zarir participated in the 5 km-race.

“It was a hard course, turbulent in parts and windy. On the return leg it was slightly difficult. Overall, the experience was wonderful,” he told this blog.

This performance helped Zarir get a direct entry into the World Championships in Phuket in December this year.

Indian team for IAU 100 km Asia & Oceania Championships 2023 announced

Ten ultrarunners have been chosen to represent India at the IAU 100 km Asia & Oceania Championships to be held in Bengaluru on July 30, 2023.

Three women and seven men have been named to participate in this event.

The three women are Jyoti Gawate, Gunjan Khurana and Shashi Mehta.

The men’s team includes Vipul Kumar, Om Prakash Saran, Saurav Kumar Ranjan, Nishu Kumar, Kartik Joshi and Amar Singh Devanda. Binay Kumar Sah has been named as a stand-by athlete.

Vipul Kumar holds the national best in 100 km for men at seven hours, four minutes and 52 seconds. Jyoti Gawate holds the national best for women at 8:20:07. Both Vipul and Jyoti had set their records at the 32nd IAU 100 km World Championships in Bernau-Berlin on August 27, 2022.

Asian Athletics Championship / Jyoti Yarraji, Ajay Kumar Saroj, Abdullah Abubakar strike gold

India bagged three gold medals on the second day of the 25th Asian Athletics Championship (July 12-16) in Bangkok.

In the women’s 100m hurdles final, India’s Jyoti Yarraji finished first in 13.09 seconds to claim top honours. In the men’s segment, Ajay Kumar Saroj claimed gold in the 1500m covering the distance in three minutes, 41.51 seconds (3:41.51). In the men’s triple jump, Abdullah Abubakar stood first with a gold medal-winning jump of 16.92m.

(The author, Latha Venkatraman, is an independent journalist based in Mumbai.)