Odisha girl Pragyan Prasanti Sahu made a successful international debut by winning silver medal in 100m hurdles event of the 3rd South Asian Junior Athletics Championship, which commenced at Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo (Sri Lanka) today.

Indians, in fact, finished one-two in the event with Sapna Kumari of Jharkhand capturing the gold. Sapna clocked 14.19 seconds, while Praghyan timed 14.98 seconds. The bronze medal was won by MA Bhagya Nilmini of Sri Lanka with a time of 15.25 seconds.

Indian athletes dominated the proceedings on the opening day of the two-day championship, bagging 11 gold, 10 silver and three bronze medals. Athletics Federation of India has fielded 31 boys and 28 girls in this championsip. SAI coach Sanjay Garnaik of Odisha has been appointed as the chief coach of the Indian squad.

Balasore lass Pragyan was included in the Indian squad with a personal best timing of 14.60 sconds, which she achieved in the 16th Federation Cup National Junior Athletics Championship, held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) from April 20 to 22, 2018. That was her maiden National appearance and she made it memorable by grabbing the silver medal.
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PHOTO: Pragyan Prasanti Sahu (Left) and Sapna Kumari pose with their medals in Colombo on May 5, 2018.