Darshan and Varsha crowned champions

Darshan Singh of Services and Varsha Devi of Railways won the men’s and women’s crowns to help their respective boards maintain dominance in the 56th National Cross Country Championships.

While the institutions continued to hold their positions, the men’s and women’s categories saw new champions as Darshan and Varsha showed good form and endurance in negotiating the challenges of the picturesque but tough course set around the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Kohima.

The athletes were further tested by the elements as the venue experienced persistent drizzles accompanied by high winds. The performance of Darshan and Varsha also helped India dominate the races in the second South Asian Cross Country championship, that was held concurrently. India made a clean sweep of the golds winning the men’s and women’s under-20 events with consummate ease.

Uttarakhand’s Akash Patel and Jharkhand’s Ashakiran Barla won the men and women’s under-20 events while Ritik Sharma and Aakancha Kerketta, who moved her base from the Chota Nagpur region train in the Nilgiris for Tamil Nadu, won the boys’ and girls’ U-1■ crowns.