Delhi, 15 May 2012
Please take not that there was a change in venues in the competition calendar of the federation. The National Youth (under-18) Athletics Championships, which was originally scheduled to be held at Lucknow on 13-14 July, have been shifted to Bangalore. Subsequently the multi age-group Junior Nationals originally planned in Karnataka from October 27 to 31 since been shifted to Lucknow.
The dates and venues for other championships remain unaltered. An updated version of the 2012 competition calendar is now available in our website.
/ AFI /
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Unbeaten series for Indian 4x400m relay squads Chonburi, Thailand – 14 May 2012 The longer relay squads in both men and women divisions had a clean sweep of series in the three-leg Asian Grand Prix which concluded in Thailand today. Triple jumper Renjith Maheswary garnered his second successive gold medal but quarter-milers Kunhu Muhammed and Poovamma fails to repeat their feat and finished second in 400m for men and women respectively. When compared to previous two legs, the performance in the final of these series had been on low-key at Chonburi. The only athlete who showed some improvement than earlier meets was long jumper Mayookha Johny with a 6.50m leap, yet it was 15 cm short of the Olympic B-grade. Having already qualified in triple jump, Mayookha is looking for a slot in the long jump as well. Indian Results: MEN 400m: 2nd P.P. Kunhu Muhammed 46.44s 800m: 2nd Sajeesh Joseph 1:49.96, 3rd Ghamanda Ram 1:50.06 Long Jump: 5th Ankit Sharma 7.37m Triple Jump: 1st Renjith Maheswary 16.46m, 3rd Arpinder Singh 15.85 Javelin Throw: 5th Rohit Kumar 69.12m 4x100m: 5th – 39.56s, 4x400m: 1st – 3:10.57 WOMEN 400m: 2nd M.R. Poovamma 53.50s, 4th Saraswati Chand 55.07s 800m: 2nd Sinimol Paulose 2:03.34 High Jump: 4th Sahana Kumari 1.83m Long Jump: 2nd Mayookha Johny 6.50m, 8th M.A. Prajusha 5.81m 4x100m: 3rd – 49.06s, 4x400m: 1st – 3:38.22 / Ram. Murali Krishnan / |
Finally Gujarat got a representative in Race Walking for Olympic Games
Saransk, Russia – 13 May 2012
When Babubhai Panucha missed the Olympic “A” standard yesterday despite a personal best clocking in 20 km walk, many in his home-state Gujaraj got dejected. However the athletics fans from India’s most developed state had something to rejoice within 24 hours when another of the state’s walker Basant Bahadur Rana improved more than eight minutes to his 4-year-old national mark when he registered 4:02:13 to make the cut for London Olympics here on Sunday morning.
Rana, on his second appearance in the IAAF World Race Walking Cup, finished 32nd to attain the “B” standard and thus booked his berth for the summer games. He was indeed very close to the “A” standard of 3:59:00. His teammate Sandeep Kumar four places behind in 4:03:45, which was also within the B-grade 4:09:00, but only one athlete with this standard can make the national team.
Other two Indians, Chandan Singh (4:16:23) and Gurpreet Singh (4:21:19), were finished 57th and 62nd respectively. All the four walkers clocked personal best timings today. When Rana took part in the World Cup at Cheboksary four years ago, he finished a distant 68th in 4:43:09. India’s best result in the Olympic Games in 50 km walk was an eighth place finish by Zora Singh at Rome in 1960.
In the women’s 20 km walk, the newly crowned national champion and record-holder Khushbir Kaur once again failed on the big stage as she clocked only 1:44:07 in her 70th place out of 88 finishers. Kaur (18) clocked an incredible record time of 1:37:28 when she had won the Federation Cup in Patiala last month. However the above time will not count for Olympic qualification. Earlier Khushbir finished fifth in the Asian championships at Nomi city, Japan, in 1:44:30 this March.
The other Indian, Deepmala Devi, did not start the race.
/ Ram. Murali Krishnan /
Szombathely, Hungary – 13 May 2012
As the Olympic Games in London approaching fast, Indian athletes started delivering stupendous performances in their various training bases and competitions across the World. The latest such achievement came from shot putter Om Prakash Singh.
The ONGC employee, who is training at the IAAF High Performance Centre in Hungary had taken part in Su-Di-Ka Kupa meet organised on Saturday (12 May) by one of the largest athletic clubs in the country—Szombathely SE—and tossed the iron ball to 20.69m. His mark eclipsed the previous national record of 20.42m held by Shakti Singh since 2000. Om Prakash, who already qualified for the Olympic Games, now attained the “A” standard and thus proved consistency in his performance level.
Om Prakash, currently training under Anil Kumar, recalled with gratitude his short stint under Shakti Singh long ago. “Both Anil Kumar and Shakti Singh were Olympians as well as Asian medallists and hails from the same village in District Bhiwani, Haryana state, from where I belongs to” he revealed in an email statement from Hungary.
“The weather was suddenly plunged below 15 degree Celsius from the previous day’s 33 degree sunny climate and that affected me and other throwers heavily in returning our best. Besides this there was a gusty wind followed by heavy rain that prevented further ambitions in this regard” Singh added.
His series read as 20.09, 20.60, Foul, 20.40, 20.63, 20.69. It means he improved the national record at least three times during yesterday’s event. After achieving his first goal getting the national record, Om Prakash is now eyeing for the Asian mark of 21.13m held by Saudi Arabia’s Sultan Abdulmajeed Al-Hebshi. It was only a second competition for the Indian this season after he touched 19.86 here on April 14. His 20.69m placed him ninth in the current world rankings. Om Prakash is planning to take part in one of the Diamond League meets in July in Europe before making his voyage to London.
Sponsored under Olympic Solidarity programme, he got financial support through OPEX scheme in Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs. He thanked the ministry, Sports Authority of India, Athletics Federation of India, Olympic Gold Quest and his employers Oil and Natural Gas Commission as well as coach Anil Kumar for his achievement.
Milestones and Progression of Indian Records in Shot Put:
First 14m -14.36 Parduman Singh 1954
First 15m - 15.34 Dinshaw Irani 1961
First 16m - 16.02 Dinshaw Irani 1963
First 17m - 17.00 Joginder Singh 1970
First 18m - 18.44 Bahadur Singh 1974
First 19m - 19.08 Shakti Singh 1995
Progress since first 20m
20.09 Shakti Singh 2000
20.31 Shakti Singh 2000
20.42 Shakti Singh 2000
20.60 Om Prakash Singh 2012
20.63 Om Prakash Singh 2012
20.69 Om Prakash Singh 2012
/ Ram. Murali Krishnan /
Indian team finished fifth in men’s 20 km
Saransk, Russia – 12 May 2012
At recent times Indian walkers were on limelight as they have been continue to deliver world-class performances at home. So it is natural that everyone expects how they would fare at the global stage. When an opportunity arose, they didn’t disappoint. The team from INDIA finished FIFTH in the men’s 20 km on the opening day of IAAF World Race Walking Cup at the Russian city Saransk on Saturday evening. It is indeed a great achievement as they fought with the elite teams from around the World. As expected the Russians were on top. China, in spite of Zhen Wang’s first place finish in 1:19:13, finished second. Ukraine and Australia took the next two places and hence listed above the Indians in this prestigious event which served as a qualifier for the upcoming Olympic Games in London.
Kolothum Thodi Irfan, the promising Indian walker who already made waves with an outstanding performance in the recent Federation Cup held at Patiala, kept his promise alive as he joined the Indian Team for London Olympics when finished 19th with a personal best 1:22:09. Training at high altitude Madras Regimental Centre in Wellington, Nilgiris, the 22-year-old Keralite became the third Indian to attain the “A” grade in 20 km walk after Gurmeet Singh and Baljinder Singh.
Senior teammate Babu Bhai Panucha finished 24th had also clocked a personal best time of 1:22:56 but it was just outside the “A” standard (1:22:30). Surender Singh completed ten places later in 34th at 1:24:05 for taking the team to fifth place on the team standings. Another Indian on the fray, the young Maniram Patel, was disqualified in the last quarter of the race. Indian walkers are taking part in men’s 50 km and women’s 20 km events tomorrow.
/ Ram. Murali Krishnan /
Poovamma dazzles with a double in 400m
Kanchanapuri, Thailand – 11 May 2012
Quarter-miler M.R. Poovamma earned her second successive gold in the ongoing Asian Grand Prix series in Thailand. Having clocked a personal best 52.94 secs in 400m in the first leg at Bangkok on 8 May, the Mangalore girl extend her winning streak with a time of 53.01 here on Friday evening.
In both places she anchored the national 4x400m relay team to victory, 3:38.76 in Bangkok and an improved 3:36.82 here today, hence she put tremendous effort to keep the nation’s dream of getting in to participate in London Olympics alive. Indian men also won the longer relay event in the first two editions successfully.
The second-leg also witnessed a splendid performance by P.P. Kunhu Muhammed with a career best 46.14 secs to take the men’s 400m. Sajeesh Joseph, who won the 800m in the first leg, finished second here but improved his performance to a season’s best 1:47.45 as Iranian Ehsan Mohajer Shojaei took the front position in 1:47.27.
Another athlete who delivered an improved display today was triple jumper Renjith Maheswary. He leapt 16.61m for the gold. In the earlier edition he finished just third with 16.03m. Arpinder Singh, who was fourth that time, joined his senior compatriot with a 16.57m jump for the second place.
Indian Results @ Bangkok, 8 May
MEN
100m Race-A: 3rd B.G. Nagaraj 10.67s, Race-B: 2nd Krishna Kumar Rane 10.70s
400m: 5th Ajay Kumar 48.38s
800m: 1st Sajeesh Joseph 1:47.78, 3rd Ghamanda Ram 1:48.71
Long Jump: 4th Ankit Sharma 7.47m
Triple Jump: 3rd Renjith Maheswary 16.03m, 4th Arpinder Singh 15.95m
4x100m: 3rd – 39.51s, 4x400m: 1st – 3:08.00
WOMEN
400m: 1st M.R. Poovamma 52.94s
800m: 3rd Sinimol Paulose 2:03.19
High Jump: 2nd Sahana Kumari 1.89m
Long Jump: 4th Mayookha Johny 6.31m, 7th M.A. Prajusha 6.00m
4x100m: 4th – 48.97s, 4x400m: 1st – 3:38.76
Indian Results @ Kanchanapuri, 11 May
MEN
100m Race-A: 7th Abdul Najeeb Qureshi 10.73s, 8th Al-Ameen 10.74s
400m: 1st P.P. Kunhu Muhammed 46.14s
800m: 2nd Sajeesh Joseph 1:47.45, 4th Ghamanda Ram 1:48.48
Long Jump: 3rd Ankit Sharma 7.72m
Triple Jump: 1st Renjith Maheswary 16.61m, 2nd Arpinder Singh 16.57m
Javelin Throw: 3rd Rohit Kumar 71.07m
4x100m: 4th – 39.46s, 4x400m: 1st – 3:07.82
WOMEN
400m: 1st M.R. Poovamma 53.01s, 4th K. Sowjanya 55.89s
800m: 2nd Sinimol Paulose 2:02.78
High Jump: 3rd Sahana Kumari 1.89m
Long Jump: 2nd Mayookha Johny 6.48m, 7th M.A. Prajusha 6.09m
4x100m: 4th – 50.82s, 4x400m: 1st – 3:36.82
/ Ram. Murali Krishnan /
Haryana edged Kerala to become the overall champion
Pune, 10 May 2012As much as thirteen new meet records, five of them in junior women’s division, have been bettered in the three day National Junior Federation Cup Athletics championships which concluded at Shri Shiv Chhatrapathi Sports Complex here this evening.
The athletes from hosts Maharashtra were once again on the limelight. In the morning, Rahul Kumar Pal clocked a notable 29:49.80 to win the junior men’s 10000m event—the first event of the day--and thus secured a place on the Indian squad for the ensuing World junior championships at Barcelona, Spain, in July this year. It was his second gold in this meet, adding it to the 5000m which he won yesterday, both with new meet marks.
In the junior women’s division similar distance double was achieved by Bengal girl Sahanara Khatun, who claimed both 3000 and 5000m golds with new championship records. In the last event of the day, Maharashtra hurdler Durgesh Kumar Pal—who a silver medal in the Youth Olympic Games at Singapore in 2010 and a gold in the Commonwealth Youth Games at Douglas last year—clocked an incredible 51.26 secs to eclipse the four-year-old meet mark (51.94s) stood in the name of Kerala’s Jithin Paul. Teammate Satish Pasala was distant second in 53.15 secs.
“I had misjudged the last hurdle and hit it hence lost the rhythm, otherwise I could have improved my national junior record” Durgesh told after the event. Durgesh posted his national record 50.86s at the junior nationals in Ranchi last year.
Haryana boys made a clean sweep in the 400m run with Sachin Kumar clocked a marvellous 47.59s to gain the Barcelona qualification. Bengal girl Priyanka Mondal timed a noteworthy 55.81 in 400m and adjudged the best athlete among the junior women while the honour went to Durgesh Kumar Pal on the boys’ u-20 section. Odisha girl Purnima Hembram went home with a gold and record in the heptathlon. Seventeen boys in eleven events attained the qualification norms for the World junior championships. Ironically no girl athlete achieved it in this meet.
“The athletes were just arrived after their examinations and skipped the training for several weeks. I am sure more athletes attain the global standard during next month’s Asian junior championships at Colombo, Sri Lanka” revealed Rajinder Singh Saini, the chief coach for junior athletes.
In the race for the overall championships Haryana edged Kerala by just one point—140 to 139—while the defending champions Tamil Nadu finished seventh this time. Kerala could have easily won the top spot here had there been an athlete from another state took part in the junior women’s pole vault. As in the previous edition the Kerala girls were unchallenged and filled the podium in that event.
/ Ram. Murali Krishnan /
Rahul Kumar Pal opened the golden day for hosts MaharashtraPune, 9 May 2012
The second day’s proceedings in Junior Federation Cup athletics competitions begun with a winning note for hosts Maharashtra as international Rahul Kumar Pal continued his golden run with a remarkable 14:16.67, a new meet mark, in the Junior Men’s 5000m race.Rahul, a havaldar with the Army Sports Institute here, was a silver medallist in last year’s National Games at Ranchi with a career best time of 14:14.35. Haryana lad Ankit Malik (14:48.10) and UP runner Rajendra Bind (14:48.90), the silver and bronze medallist in this event, also bettered the previous meet mark of 14:55.93 which was standing in the name of Kuldeep Kumar of Uttar Pradesh since the inaugural edition of Junior FedCup in 2001.
Rahul was trying to better Gojen Singh’s 16-year-old national junior record of 14:14.48 but could not succeed this morning. “He ran solely most of the race. He could have clocked somewhere near 14:05 if there had been anyone to challenge him” revealed S. Pichaiah, three-times national champion in steeplechase, who is now training the young prodigy in the ASI.
The corresponding event in the junior women division also witnessed the meet record being bettered by Bengal girl Sahanara Khatun in 17:30.48. The old mark (17:41.17) stood in the name of Suriya Loganathan of Tamil Nadu since 2009.
Delhi boy Arjun, the Youth Olympic Games silver medallist in 2010, recorded a personal best 57.57m to win his pet event—discus throw—but missed the national and meet mark of 58.10m held by Punjab’s Kripal Singh since the last edition of the meet held in Visakhapatnam, two years ago. “I had two foul throws and could not find my rhythm due to a clumsy weather. I shall certainly cross 60m during the Asian junior championships next month” was his reaction when asked about his performance today.Navjeet Kaur, the Commonwealth Youth Games bronze medallist, won the women’s discus throw event by hurling the disc to 44.25m for a “double” in throws. Earlier she had won the shot put yesterday.
Archana Suseendran from Tamil Nadu, who missed a medal in 100m yesterday, fiercely fought to win the 200m dash from Odisha girl Dutee Chand--the winner of 100m--in a photo-finish (24.96 to 24.97 secs). Punjab boy Jatin Jain got the gold in the men’s race in 21.98s. Tamil Nadu got its second gold today when triple jumper Raja Sekar leaped to 15.80m on the first round. He fouled in all his subsequent attempts, but there was no one to threaten him for the top spot as second placed Ashman Sahu of Odisha was more than a metre away (14.75m) for the silver.
Hosts Maharashtra got three more gold medals through javelin thrower Rajesh Kumar Bind (74.75m), decathlete Dileep Kumar (6504) and steeplechaser Shakthi Singh (9:25.39).
Meenu Nirwal from Uttar Pradesh took the inaugural title in the junior women’s 2000m steeplechase clocking 7:53.17, which was introduced for the first time at national level in this championship.
/ Ram. Murali Krishnan /
Local boy Aneesh sparkled on the opening day
Pune, 8 May 2012
The eleventh edition of National Junior Federation Cup athletics championships got off to a flying start at Shri Shiv Chhatrapathi Sports Complex in Balewadi on Tuesday morning with a new meet mark in the boys’ 10000m race walking.
Kuldeep Singh of Haryana won the first event of the day as he walked the 25 laps in 43 mins 37.66 secs. Delhi’s Neeraj (43:39.99) and Maharashtra’s Kapil Kumar (43:46.83), who claimed silver and bronze medals respectively, has also bettered the previous meet mark of 43:54.4 held by Gurmeet Singh of Punjab since 2004. The corresponding race for junior women was won by Shanti Kumari (Punjab) with a time of 53:55.68. Punjab got its second gold through shot putter Navjeet Kaur, who tossed the 4 Kg iron ball to 11.94m to win the event.
However the day belongs to Maharashtra hurdler Aneesh Abhay Joshi. The first year student in Trinity College of Engineering, Pune, accelerated against a strong head-wind to clock an incredible 14.05 secs for the gold in 110m hurdles, which obliterated his fellow state-mate Siddhanth Thingalaya’s meet record of 14.20 secs set during the previous edition of the Junior FedCup at Visakhapatnam two years ago. It was his maiden victory at a national championship. Training under Sanjay Patankar, Aneesh came fourth in the National School Games at the same venue last year. His father Abhay Madhukar Joshi was an eminent Kho-Kho player and a recipient of Ekalavya and Shiv Chhatrapathi awards from the Government of Maharashtra and currently taking part in the Masters’ athletic meets with great success in the Asian championships. The young Aneesh is now eagerly looking forward to improve his performance in the upcoming Asian junior championships at Colombo, Sri Lanka, next month.
Meghana Shetty, a prodigy of former SAI coach V.R. Beedu, gave Karnataka its first gold of the meet while winning the junior women’s 100m hurdles clocking 14.81 secs. The southern state also won another gold medal through ace high jumper Harshith, who sailed over a new height of 2.15m for the top spot.
Gujarat sprinter Shalin Patel had won his maiden national title as he became the fastest man of the meet in 10.98 secs. Sathyaseelan of Tamil Nadu, who clocked 10.96s in the semi-finals earlier, came second in the final (11.06) while his teammate Praveen Muthukumaran got the bronze two-hundredth of a second later.
Dutee Chand of Odisha earned the first medal for her state taking the junior women’s 100m in 12.20s.
As expected the Asian indoor bronze medallist Prem Kumar of Tamil Nadu was an easy victor in the long jump with a distance of 7.65m. Punjab’s Baljinder Singh was a distant second with a jump of 7.22m.
Haryana girl Jyoti edged the reigning Asian Youth Games 800m winner Namita Kabat of Jharkhand in the 1500m race this evening 4:40.10 to 4:40.56. Kerala’s P.U. Chitra was third in 4:41.74. Harish Koranga of Uttarakhand took the junior men’s title in 3:57.87. Harayana’s medal hunt was further inflated by shot putter Surender.
Earlier the championship was inaugurated by Shri. Padmakar Valavi, the Hon’ble Minister of Sports, Government of Maharashtra.
/ Ram. Murali Krishnan /
Pune ready to welcome young aspirants
Pune, 7 May 2012
The Junior Federation Cup, first introduced in 2001 at Bangalore, is the third major national championship for juniors besides the regular inter-state and inter-zonal junior meets. It was an annual feature on Indian athletics calendar, barring 2011 during that year it was not held.
The city of Pune is entrusted with the organisation of 11th edition of the Junior Federation Cup from May 8 to 10, this year. This is the second time that Pune is organising the above championship. First being 2008 when the meet was conducted at Babu Rao Sanas stadium in the city. Four meet records set during the above edition are still remains intact on the books. They are: 51.94 secs by Kerala’s Jithin Paul in 400m hurdles and 2.14m by Tamil Nadu high jumper Lakshmanan Yogaraj in the Junior Men category, a noteworthy 2:05.21 clocking in 800m by Tintu Luka and a 15.44m heave in shot put by Punjab thrower Manpreet Kaur on the Junior Women’s side.
This year’s championship will be held in Shri Shiv Chhatrapathi Sports Complex at Balewadi, on the outskirts of Pune. The above sports facility, built for the National Games in 1994, since hosted a number of importantevents including the International Permit Meet and Commonwealth Youth Games in 2008. When Pune hosted the previous edition of the Junior Federation Cup, it served as a selection trials for the Indian aspirants to the CYG in 2008. Likewise this year’s championship will decide on the Indian team to the Asian junior championships to be held in Colombo (9-12 June). As much as 44 events, 22 each for junior men and junior women, will be held in the three-day meet in which the 2000m steeplechase will be introduced for the first time for junior women this year.
/ AFI /
Poonia does it again with a national record
Maui Island, USA – 7 May 2012
Krishna Poonia once again on the limelight, this time with a new national record effort in Hawaii Islands. In less than 48 hours after she produced a season best 63.67m here on 4th May, the reigning Commonwealth Games gold medallist showed her excellent form to post a new mark of 64.76m in the Altius Track Crew Throwdown meet here last evening (6 May), according to information received from husband-and-coach Mr. Virendar Poonia. The previous listed national record was that of 64.64m by Seema Antil which she set in June 2004 at Chennai. Time and again she was second to American Olympian Stephanie Trafton, who hurled the disc to 66.86m. Her teammate Gia Lewis-Smallwood took third place in 63.97m. Krishna had a foul throw on her first round and 56.96m on the second before achieving her record throw (64.76) in the next. She completed her next three throws with 62.18, 61.55 and 63.68m.
/ Ram. Murali Krishnan /
Wailuku, USA – 5 May 2012
Krishna Poonia, the Commonwealth Games gold medallist, who already qualified for the Olympic Games in London this summer has started her training-cum-competition in the United States with an outstanding performance. Competing in the Maui discus throwing in Hawaii against the reigning Olympic champion Stephanie Brown Trafton, Krishna returned with a season’s best 63.67m but barely missed her personal best mark by 2 cm. The Indian thrower registered her PB of 63.69 two years ago, also in the United States, when placed second in a meet at Chula Vista, California. She came second again last night as Stephanie produced an American Record of 67.74m to win the above event.
Earlier this year Krishna Poonia began her season with a victory in the high altitude Potchefstroom, in South Africa, on March 5 with a modest throw of 58.22m.
/ Ram. Murali Krishnan /
ONGC lifts overall championships
Patiala, 24 April 2012
The team from Dehradun-based Oil and Natural Gas Commission, an emerging force on Indian Athletics in recent years, took the overall championship title in the four-day 16th Federation Cup senior athletics championships which concluded this evening at the NSNIS grounds here with a whooping 9 gold, 6 silver and 5 bronze medals. With a large number of their top athletes opted to compete in other teams defending champions Kerala state finished runners-up with 7-7-5.
Siddhanth Thingalaya, the wonder-hurdler from Maharashtra who is running under ONGC banner here, clocked an impressive 13.69 secs—the fastest by an Indian on the home soil—to win the men’s 110m hurdles. However his time on the evening final was well below the Olympic qualification norm of 13.60s as well as the Indian best 13.66s which he clocked while winning the Australian national championships at Melbourne on April 15.
“I have little bit disappointed as the Patiala track is my favourite one where I clocked my first national record of 13.81s two years ago. I shall certainly achieve the targeted time in the next few weeks” was his reaction after the race. The former Asian junior silver medallist is training in Australia since last year. Tamil Nadu hurdlers J. Surendhar and T. Balamurugan filled the other two places on the podium.
As expected Kerala’s C.T. Raji takes the top spot in women’s 100m hurdles clocking 14.61s—the slowest winning time in all the sixteen editions of the above championships!
Shot putter Saurabh Vij, who tossed the iron ball to a season’s best 19.80m during the first leg of Indian Grand Prix here two weeks ago and expected to attain the London grade today, also had a disappointing evening as he fouled in three of his series and could not go beyond 18.42m which fetched the gold to him.
In yet another keen contest, Kerala runner Sajeesh Joseph once again overpowered veteran Ghamanda Ram (ONGC) in the men’s 800m but barely missed the Olympic grade by just over 2 seconds in his winning time of 1:48.36.
Heptathlete Sushmita Singharoy, who had a hat-trick of wins in the FedCup (2006-08) after B.N. Sumavathy (1995-97) and J.J. Shobha (2002-04), extended here number of wins to four in this event after having skipped the previous edition at Ranchi in 2010. The Bengal-woman, who turned 28 just four weeks ago, however could gather only 5553 points to win her event today and thus fails to accomplish her dream of making to the second Olympics after Beijing-2008.
Although the winning performances of the final evening in many events were not so encouraging, many athletes in the women section have secured ‘double’ victories which including Haryana sprinter Manisha, UP distance runner Archana Pal, Kerala jumper M.A. Prajusha and ONGC’s middle-distance star Sinimole Paulose.
Chattisgarh won the men’s longer relay in 3:18.08 with the aid of Kerala-originated athletes. The women’s event had to be cancelled owing to lack of entries.
ONGC topped among the men with 86 points while Kerala stood first in the women’s division by pushing the medal-leader Uttar Pradesh (4-2-2) to second place on points (44 to 37) basis. The decision to award the championships based on points to six places came in to effect from this meet as approved in the last AGM of the federation at Manesar earlier this month.
/ Ram. Murali Krishnan /
Walkers brighten the day with record performances
Patiala, 23 April 2012
If Olympic qualification is the main purpose for those athletes whom competing here in the FedCup, then there are at least two of them returning home with disappointment even after having achieved it!
In the women’s 20 km walk, the first event of the day, Kushbir Kaur posted a new National Record with a time of 1:37:28. It was 16 secs faster than L. Deepmala Devi’s old record (1:37:44) set during the Asian race walking championships at Nomi City, Japan, two years ago. The 18-year-old Kushbir’s time this morning also well within the London Olympics “B” standard of 1:38:00. However the ONGC walker could not make the bus to London with today’s mark as the Indian championships are not one of the pre-designated meets to attain the qualifying grade for this year’s Olympic Games in race walking. In one such qualifying events—the Asian race walking championships at Nomi in March this year—Kushbir finished fifth clocking only 1:44:30.
The winner of the corresponding event for men, started 30 minutes later, also met with the same fate. Kerala walker K.T. Irfan has surprised the field when he completed the 20-lapper in an outstanding 1:22:14 which eclipsed his state-mate P.S. Jalan’s seven-year-old meet record of 1:30:17.3 and also came within the “A” standard for the Olympic Games which stood at 1:22:30. Hails from Areekode in Malappuram district and graduated from St. Joseph’s College in Devagiri, Irfan was the third Keralite to win a national title in the men’s 20 km walk after P.S. Biju and Jalan.
The men’s race today also witnessed impressive performances by Punjab’s Surinder Singh and Maniram Patel of Madhya Pradesh. They clocked 1:22:37 and 1:22:40 for the second and third places behind Irfan. If these trio along with Kushbir Kaur shall get another chance to compete in one of the races abroad, they would certainly make the cut.
Walkers Gurmeet Singh and Baljinder Singh have already attained the “A” grade and one more from India can join with them with similar feat.
After a disappointing defeat last week during the second leg of Indian Grand Prix here on the same tracks, reigning Asian Games champion Joseph Abraham dipped under 50 secs for the first time in two years as he clocked 49.98s to win the 400m hurdles. Joseph, the World championships semi-finalist in 2007 at Osaka, however fails to accomplish his dream of making the Olympic team as his time this evening was 0.18 secs shy of the B-grade.
The hosts have some cheer as Bhupinder Kaur won the women’s race in 1:01.27, pushing the fancied Kerala hurdler C.T. Raji to second place (1:01.67).
Bineesh Jacob of Kerala was an easy victor in men’s pole vault with a height of 4.80m and Madhya Pradesh’s Ankit Sharma in the long jump with a leap of 7.79m. However the other side of the field saw keen contests in men’s hammer and javelin throws. UP lad Chandrodaya Narain Singh was the eventual winner in the ball and chain event as he pushed Harvinder Singh Dagar of ONGC to second spot in 67.78 to 67.01m in hammer throw. However the Dehradun-based team was joyous when spearman Rohit Kumar overwhelmed Haryana’s Rajender Singh 76.73 to 76.12m to take the title crown in the javelin throw.
As the top-rung distance running women of the country are currently training in Eldoret, Kenya, athletes from Uttar Pradesh had a clean sweep in the women’s 3000m steeplechase. Haryana’s Jaiveer won the gold in men’s event timed 8:49.01.
Sprint relay teams from Tamil Nadu and West Bengal were triumphant in the men and women sections respectively.
ONGC continue to lead the medal tally at the end of penultimate day with 5 gold, 5 silver and 3 bronze medals, closely followed by Kerala which stood second with one gold lesser.
/ Ram. Murali Krishnan /
Kerala’s Jithin Thomas sailed to 2.20m high jump
Patiala, 22 April 2012
Kerala high jumper Jithin Thomas surprised everyone with a personal best 2.20m for the gold today. He barely missed the meet mark of 2.21m held by Bengal’s Harishankar Roy since 2007. Roy, sporting the Jharkhand colours now, however could not above 2.05m and shared the silver medals with B. Chethan of Karnataka and Jagdeep Singh of ONGC.
With Asian champion Mayookha Johny currently undergoing a training stint in Germany, her Kerala state- mate M.A. Prajusha was an easy victor with a modest 6.13m leap. Prajusha, the silver medallist in Commonwealth Games at Delhi two years ago, registered her best of the day on her second jump and had another 6.03m in third round but fouled four of her jumps including the opening one and thus could not make any fireworks as expected.
Earlier quarter-miler M.R. Poovamma delivered her best time in the women’s 400m (53.70s). However it was well below the Olympic B-standard of 52.30s. The reigning Inter-University champion had already represented the nation on a couple of occasions at the World Youth and Junior Championships as well as part of the bronze winning Indian relay quartet at the Asian Indoor Games in Macau five years ago. She is one of the top-rung athletes to make the Indian team for relay qualification in this year. However the performance of the other athletes who had finished behind Poovamma this evening was not so encouraging and hence put a big question about their London ambitions.
Poovamma, hails from Mangalore in Karnataka state, represented here the Oil and Natural Gas Commission. The ONGC is a tremendous supporter of Indian Athletics in recent years and already have a number of star athletes in its team including distance runner Kavita Raut and shot put ace Om Prakash Karhana. ONGC will be the main sponsor for Indian Athletics programme for the next five years.
As expected the men’s race was easily won by P.P. Kunhu Mohammed. However his winning time of 46.67s was slightly slower than his IGP winning effort (46.58s) here ten days ago.
Haryana’s Vijay Kumar clinched the gold in the ten-event decathlon with a noteworthy 7152 points. Like high jumper Jithin Thomas, the Haryana lad also graduated to top position from his silver medal in Ranchi two years ago.
At the end of day two, ONGC is leading the medal tally with 3 gold, 3 silver and a bronze medal.
/ Ram. Murali Krishnan /
Renjith triple jumped 16.85m to join the team for London Olympics!
Patiala, 21 April 2012
Tamil Nadu triple jumper Renjith Maheswary finally achieved the Olympic qualification as he landed on the sand pit at 16.85m—the exact distance for “B” qualification standard—in the opening day of 16th Federation Cup senior athletics championships which begun here at NSNIS grounds on Saturday.
Renjith started with a moderate 15.84m and went on to improve it with 16.51 and 16.56 in his next two rounds before made a foul on the fourth. His London qualification came on the fifth attempt and he went with no mark on his final round. Young Arpinder Singh was a distant second in 16.20m.
“My darling books his berth for London Olympics; thanks for your prayers” his wife and national pole vault record-holder Surekha elated in her comment on the Facebook. It was Renjith’s third win in the FedCup. He had earlier won the titles in 2005 and 2007.
Renjith, the former Asian champion and bronze medallist in Commonwealth Games at Delhi 2010, made an excellent come back after a forgettable season last year during which he crashed out in the qualifying rounds of World championships in Daegu, Korea, with no marks. He is determined to make amends this summer at the Olympic arena in London.
The Federation Cup currently underway at Patiala is the first major competition for the Indian aspirants wishing to gain the Olympic berth as well as a voyage to Thailand for next month’s Asian Grand Prix series.
In men’s discus throw ONGC’s Kripal Singh registered 58.59 to win the event. It may look as if a no mean achievement when compared to Vikas Gowda’s world leading 66.28m which he logged in the United States last week, however it was the third best winning mark in Fed Cup after Anil Kumar’s 59.04 (1997) and 59.55 (2000).
Maharashtra sprinter Krishna Kumar Rane (10.51 secs) piped defending champion Shameer Mon (10.54) to become the fastest man of the meet. However Haryana’s Manisa, winner of the previous edition in Ranchi two years ago, had successfully defends her title with a 11.93s clocking.
Javelin thrower Suman Devi proved her mettle once again with her sixth ever win in these championships with a new meet record 56.11m while Remya Revindran, represented Gujarat this time, vaulted to 3.40m for her victory in the women’s pole vault—an event which was cancelled due to lack of entries in the previous two editions. Karnataka’s Sahana Kumari recorded her fourth win in high jump with a Personal Best height of 1.88m.
Earlier in the morning, Archana Pal of Uttar Pradesh and Sandeep Kumar of Madhya Pradesh took the title-crown in the 5.000m race for women and men respectively.
/ Ram. Murali Krishnan /
Delhi 19th April, 2012: Born in Bombay (now Mumbai) on a New Year’s day fifty-four years ago, Adille Sumariwalla, the newly elected President of Athletics Federation of India was a reputed national sprint champion, Olympian and Arjuna awardee.
“A new small, tough, ambitious and determined young man had just joined the Juhu Sports Club. When we went to pick him from his 11th floor home, we did not have to call out to him because his father wouldn't have allowed him to do anything with Athletics.
So first the track-suit then the spikes would come flying out of the window, sometimes a bag. But when the young man came down to meet us, it look as if he was going out to the library or a friend’s house to do some cramming for his board exams at least that's what his father thought.
His father never ever found out why he never became an Ivy League student but he did find out that his son had become the nation's fastest sprinter through “The Times of India”. The name of that young sprinter was Adille Sumariwalla and I am honoured to call him a friend”.
The above story posted on Facebook by Clint Martin, a teammate of Adille in his heydays as an athlete, might very well taken as a testimony for his dedication and hard-work to achieve laurels.
Statistically speaking Adille has won the national title in 100m for a record eleven times. Wonder if it has anything to do with his eleventh floor residence in Mumbai! No other Indian went nearer to his seven straight titles in the Inter-State championships from 1979 to 1985 for his home-state Maharashtra. He got his four other wins from the Open Nationals of 1980-81 and 1984-85. He clocked his career best 10.4 secs at Calicut in 1982.
At the international level, Adille has won the inaugural South Asian Federation Games gold in 1984 at Kathmandu. However his first international appearance came in 1978 at the Indo-USSR tests. The next year he went to World University Games in Mexico and also took part at the Asian Track & Field Championships in Tokyo. He got his Olympic berth in 1980 at Moscow and competed at the Asian Games when Delhi hosted it two years later.
When he finally retired from the competition tracks, Adille already gathered 17 international as well as 44 national championship medals. For his achievements he was honoured with Arjuna Award in 1985.
Like every other Parsi, Adille started his career with the TATA’s in Telco. Graduated from the Asian Institute of Management, he is now running his own business in Clear Channel Mumbai Pvt. Ltd. Besides this, he is also on the Board of Directors in the fabulous Mid-day group.
Blended with his knowledge in sports and administration, Adille is now getting ready for the BIG job in hands!
/ Ram. Murali Krishnan /
