Seema Antil qualifies for Berlin World Athletics

New Delhi: National record holder discus thrower Seema Antil became the third Indian to qualify for

next month`s Berlin World Athletics Championships by crossing `B` qualifying standard while winning gold in the Loughborough European Permit Meet at Leicestershire. Antil threw the discus to a distance of 59.28m, better than Berlin `B` standard of 58.50m at Loughborough University yesterday. The Orissa athlete holds the national record of 64.64m. Compatriot Krishna Poonia, who had qualified for the August 15-23 Berlin event during the second leg of Indian Grand Prix in Coimbatore in May, was second with an effort of 57.96m. Antil, who had been overshadowed by Poonia this season as she came second most of the time in the five legs of Indian Grand Prix events, made it to Berlin just six days before the qualification deadline of August 3. Men`s 400m runner Joseph Abraham is the third Indian who will compete in Berlin. He had qualified for Berlin during the third leg of Indian Grand Prix event in Chennai in May. Other Indians who won gold at Loughborough include women`s high jumper Sahna Kumari who cleared 1.75m while Maliakkal Anthony Prajusha won silver in women`s long jump with a leap of 6.17m. In men`s shot put, Saurabh Vij won a silver with a throw of 17.17m while Satyender Singh was third with an effort of 17.04m. Bureau Report