Chandigarh athlete shines in Youth Asian Championship

Deepankar Sharda

Chandigarh, April 30

In a proud moment, 16-year-old Shireen Ahluwalia was part of the Indian sprint medley relay team that claimed the top podium position during the ongoing Youth Asian Championship at Uzbekistan this evening.

The Indian team won the gold medal in 2 minutes and 11.21 seconds (2:11.21s). Team members Mohor Mukherjee won in 100m race, Abhinaya Rajarajan won in 200m, Shireen claimed the top podium in 300m and Rezoana Malik Heena excelled in 400m.

Shireen, a trainee of UT Sports Department athletics coach Maninder Singh Hira and a student of Strawberry Fields School, Sector 26, participated in the 300m race of the medley relay event. Last month, she had clocked 56.58 seconds to claim fourth position in the women’s 400m run during the 18th National Youth Athletics Championship at Udupi (Karnataka).

She had surpassed the qualifying time of 57.36 seconds to represent India in the ongoing Youth Asian Championship. Before participating in the Asian Youth Championship, she underwent a training camp under the banner of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) in Bangalore.

While playing in Chandigarh, she won laurels in inter-school and inter-state events and also in the Khelo India Games. She participated in 200m and 400m sprint events.

“She is a promising athlete and will surely bring laurels in the coming national and international championships. She has been extensively working on her training and she will surely make the city proud in the future,” said Hira.