The indoor athletics arena of the Kalinga Stadium was full as two local boys — the reigning national record holder in both 100m and 200m Animesh Kujur and Lalu Prasad Bhoi — were in the final of the men’s 60m race. The crowd was expecting Animesh to be crowned the champion in India’s first-ever National Indoor Championships. However, the sporting gods were with Punjab’s Gurindervir Singh, who flew past everyone, albeit after a few delays, to win the national title.Gurindervir also bettered the national record by finishing the race in 6.60 seconds, which was better than the 6.67 seconds set by VK Elakkiadasan in 2022. The finish was electric even though the most anticipated event had the most anti-climactic start as three athletes were disqualified for false starts.Mritumja Dondapati was the first athlete to be shown the red card. After the restart, it was the turn of Nihal Sagar to be disqualified for the same offence. When the third time the race was stalled, it stunned the crowd as the final disqualification was that of Animesh.Despite the stoppages, Gurindervir rocketed off the blocks to win his first-ever 60m gold. “It is a good start to the season. I hope to sustain my efforts in outdoor races,” Gurindervir said.Gurindervir said he was not perturbed at all because of the stoppages. “It happens and we as sprinters have to be ready to deal with it and it shows that I am getting mentally strong,” he said.The Reliance athlete is also not getting carried away with his gold-winning efforts on Wednesday. He is conscious of the fact that he failed to do well last year despite starting the season by registering the 100m national record of 10.20. On Wednesday, Gurindervir admitted he was in a depression that almost stalled his career.“I was insulted on my face and it started to affect me to the level I hated to look at my face in the mirror. I am not going to disclose who said what, I might someday but not today. Thanks to my team I am out of it now,” he said.“This year my results will show a different side of me. Again I will not say anything but you (reporters) will understand once that starts to happen,” he added.Bhoi, who emulated his hero Usain Bolt during the heats and looked across the finish line while miles ahead of the competition, took the silver in 6.65 seconds. Nuzrat, representing Haryana, took the bronze with a timing 6.71 seconds.Animesh, meanwhile, was relaxed about the whole affair. “These things happen, I have already moved on,” he said. “I know I am getting better with the block starts. It is much better than last year and I can see myself improving my record in 100m and 200m,” he added.The women’s 60m crown went to Maharashtra’s Harita Bhandra, who registered a personal best with a timing of 7.32 seconds. Karnataka’s Unnathi Bollanda (7.46) and Maharashtra’s Trisha Nair (7.62) finished second and third, respectively.“I am very happy with the timing today, now I am focussing on the Asian Games selection and hope to represent India one day,” Harita said.