Steeplechaser Avinash Sable smashed his own national record to qualify for the World Championships while sprint sensation Hima Das clinched the gold in the women's 400m race in the Federation Cup here Monday.
Hima though missed the Asian Championships mark on the final day competition.
Jinson Johnson and Rajiv Arokia won the men's 1500m and 400m respectively to qualify for the Asian Championships. Heptathlete Swapna Barman also qualified for continental showpiece after the winning seven-event discipline with 5900 aggregate points.
The 24-year-old Sable from Maharashtra was the star of the day as he came up with a new national record time of 8:28.94 in the men's 3000m steeplechase within six months of his earlier national record of 8:29.80 in September last year.
Sable's rise has been remarkable as he shifted from cross country to steeplechase in 2017. He was with Belarusian coach Nikolai Snesarev when he created his earlier national record during the National Open Championships. He then parted ways with Nikolai and trained with Army coach Amrish Kumar.
Maharashtra's Sable, who is currently a havildar in the Army, had trained earlier under Kumar.
"I had come here with the target of booking a World Championships berth (as well as Asian Championships). I did it with a national record. It is very satisfying that I did well early in the season," Sable said.
"I will target the Olympics qualification (8:22.00) in the Asian and World Championships. There the competition will be strong with the best in Asia and the world. I will be able to push myself," he added.
Sable said he was hurt to learn that people thought he would not been able to set another national record.
"I was in the wilderness for two months after parting ways with Nikolai sir. I heard people saying that I will not be able to do another record. Today I have proved it that I can run 8:29. My timing can win a medal in the Asian Championships."
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