Winning streak: Sinimol Paulose

Jamshedpur, Nov. 3: Tata Steel’s Sinimol Paulose created a new 1500-m national meet record while claiming the top slot in the ongoing Senior Inter-state National Athletics Championship at Chennai.

The 23-year-old Paulose claimed gold in the 1500-m, clocking 4:10.51 seconds yesterday night, shattering the record of India’s star runner Sunita Rani.

Expressing happiness on the achievement of Paulose, Harbhajan Singh, head, sports, Tata Steel, said Paulose was in top form and would bring laurels for Jharkhand.

Satnam Singh, coach of the Tata Athletics Academy (TAA), said Paulose had brushed aside the challenge of Shanti (from Tamil Nadu) and OP Jaisa (from Kerala) while bagging the top slot in 1500-m.

“She is on the right track and the country can expect a medal from her in the forthcoming Asian Games at Doha,” Singh, a former international, added.

Singh said Paulose was a hard worker. “The national meet in Chennai is a big event. The national squad for the Asian Games will be selected on the basis of performance in that championship. Paulose has a bright chance of representing the nation in the Asian Games,” he said.

Besides claiming gold in the 1500-m in the Asian Indoor Athletic Championship last year, Paulose also picked up a silver medal in the same event in last month’s Open National Athletics Championship at Delhi. Paulose also won the 1500 bronze in the Indoor Asian Games in 2005.