With the big names in athletics not making the trip, the Indian athletes had a field day, winning nine of the 18 gold medals at stake. K. P. Mohan reports.
The majority of the top stars in Asian athletics stayed away from the second Asian All-Stars meet in Bhopal, leaving the Indians with a good chance to win medals and prize money.
That nine of the 18 gold medals were won by the Indian athletes should provide an indication of the standard that was available in a meet that was being revived after a gap of four years.
Initially devised to attract Asian champions, Asian Games winners and regional championship winners, the meet could offer only a top prize of 1500 dollars and that perhaps explains the mediocre field that was assembled.
Of the three Asian Games champions entered, only one, Kazakhstan’s Olga Tereshkova, turned up. She was pushed to the fourth place in the women’s 400 metres. The other two Doha Games winners, both Chinese, triple jumper Li Yanxi and woman discus thrower Song Aimin, could have given the much-needed quality to the meet, but though their names were entered they eventually did not make the trip. Four Asian champions were in the fray — Malaysian high jumper Lee Hup Wei, India’s triple jump record holder Renjith Maheswary, and woman middle distance runners Truong Thanh Hang of Vietnam and the host country’s Sinimole Paulose. In keeping with his abnormal slump since the end of last season, only Renjith ended up without a medal.
Medals for Indians would not have mattered in a majority of the events, though the prize money was not to be dismissed cheaply. Very few competed or else there was only token foreign challenge or the standards were ordinary. In many events only Indians fought it out among themselves. In such a scenario, the National record of 80.72 metres in javelin by Anil Singh was a most creditable effort.
Coming in the wake of a disappointing performance by the Indians in the Beijing Olympics, this was encouraging, though the 23-year-old Bhiwani man will have to be consistent at this level to be considered a true potential. Many a promising athlete had remained just ‘promising’ in the Indian context during the past few years, failing especially on the global stage. Thus there is some amount of scepticism whenever a fresh talent emerges.
Anil is not exactly fresh. Younger brother of Praveen Kumar, a national level pole vaulter who represented the Railways one time, Anil has been around for some time. As a 19-year-old he had thrown 74.70 in 2004 in Mumbai and had touched his previous best of 76.31 the following year in Hyderabad. An elbow injury to his throwing (right) arm that necessitated surgery eight years ago has had an effect on his progress.
Even in Bhopal Anil was troubled by his elbow, taking only three throws, the second one giving him the record and the gold. Anil has been far from spectacular during the past two seasons, ending with 75.89 and 73.61, and came into the Bhopal meet with only a season best of 74.11, recorded at the National Open, after a 69.01 in the inter-State in Madurai. The Olympic qualifying mark was 77.80.
Only Ramandeep Singh, during the 1998 Asian Games trials, has crossed 80 metres among Indians. Anil displaced Satbir Singh’s record of 79.68, registered in Calcutta in 1998. Ramandeep’s mark was not considered for ratification purposes since it came during trials.
Anil’s 80-plus pushed him to the top of the Asian standings for the year, ahead of Japanese Yuki Fumi Murakami who had a 79.71. Another Japanese, Kazuki Yamomoto should have been the favourite in this meet, but against such a fine performance from the Indian, he had to settle for the silver at 75.06.
Among the other impressive winners from the Indian ranks, 400m hurdler Joseph Abraham beat a good field while winning with a burst of speed over the flat 40 metres, edging Japanese Yosuke Tsushima 50.88 to 51.18. Abraham was not too happy with his performance, saying that he was looking to better his National record of 49.51 seconds. Having missed much of the season and failing to make it to Beijing, he could not have returned a timing better than this. The field included Kazakh Dmitriy Komkov, a 49.75 hurdler, who finished sixth in 53.52.
Om Prakash (men’s shot put, 18.68m) and H. M. Jyothi (women’s 100m, 11.79s) returned personal bests while winning. Jyothi’s feat was a surprise since the field included 2007 Asian silver medallist Vu Thi Huong of Vietnam, who came third in a photo-finish in which the top three were credited with the same time, though eventually separated by thousandth of a second. The silver went to Kazakhstan’s Anastasiya Soprunova who also won the 100m hurdles.
Sinimole Paulose won untroubled against Truong Thanh Hang in the women’s 1500 metres just as she had done in the Asian Championships in Amman where the Vietnamese had surprised her in the 800 metres. Though conditions were not ideal, with rain spoiling part of the show, Mayookha Johny’s silver with just 6.16 in long jump, behind Sri Lankan N. C. D. Priadharashani, who jumped a centimetre more in the last round, was a disappointment. So, too, Tintu Luka’s second place behind Kazakhstan’s Matsko Margarita in the 800 metres, though the margin, again, was very narrow, 2:05.84 to 2:05.89.
“She should have run the first lap much faster than the 61-plus she did,” said P. T. Usha under whom Tintu trains. “She will learn to win in such small fields,” she added. In a three-woman field, Tintu was expected to win.
The most disappointing among the Indians were Renjith Maheswary and Krishna Poonia. Renjith, like it was in the Kochi Open, failed to touch 16 metres in triple jump, finishing fifth with 15.81 metres. Amarjeet Singh took the bronze (16.03) behind Kazakh Evgeniy Ektov (16.32) and Korean Ko Dae Young (16.25).
Poonia, continuing the slump that had characterised the latter part of her season, could manage only 51.78 in women’s discus which was won by Saroj Sihag, with 52.13. Poonia’s season best and personal best stood at 63.41.
It is time the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) seriously reviewed the terrible slump in the performance of the top Indian athletes this season rather than dismiss them with routine excuses.
The ResultsMEN100m: 1. B. G. Nagraj (India) 10.52s, 2. Abdul Najeeb Qureshi (India) 10.56, 3. Ganesh Satpute (India) 10.64. 400m: 1. Mitsuhiro Abiko (Japan) 46.23s, 2. Prasanna Amarasekara (Sri Lanka) 46.47, 3. Virender Kumar Pankaj (India) 47.10. 800m: 1. Sajeesh Joseph (India) 1:48.93s, 2. S. Prakash Verma (India) 1:49.73, 3. Ghamanda Ram (India) 1:51.01. 5000m: 1. Surendra Kumar Singh (India) 14:25.68s, 2. Sandeep Bathum (India) 14:26.22, 3. Ajay Kumar (India) 14:28.05. 400m hurdles: 1. Joseph Abraham (India) 50.88s, 2. Yosuke Tsushima (Japan) 51.18, 3. Avin Thomas (India) 51.75. High jump: 1. Hikaru Tsuchiya (Japan) 2.18m, 2. Lee Hup Wei (Malaysia) 2.18, 3. Hari Sankar Roy (India) 2.18. Triple jump: 1. Yevgeniy Ektov (Kazakhstan) 16.32m, 2. Ko Dae Young (Korea) 16.25, 3. Amarjeet Singh (India) 16.03. Shot put: 1. Om Prakash 18.68m (India), 2. Saurabh Vij (India) 18.14, 3. Grigoriy Kamulya (Uzbekistan) 17.5. Discus: 1. Mahmood Samimi (Pakistan) 58.55m, 2. Mohammad Samimi (Iran) 51.69, 3. Smranjit Singh (India) 51.68. Javelin: 1. Anil Singh (India) 80.72m, 2. Kazuki Yamomoto (Japan) 75.06, 3. Sandeep Yadav (India) 73.78.
WOMEN100m: 1. H. M. Jyothi (India) 11.79s, 2. Anastasya Soprunova (Kazakhstan) 11.79, 3. Vu Thi Huong (Vietnam) 11.79. 400m: 1. Asami Tanno (Japan) 53.00s, 2. Marina Maslenko (Kazakhstan) 53.04, 3. Satti Geetha (India) 53.86. 800m: 1. Margarita Matsko (Kazakhstan) 2:05.84s, 2. Tintu Luka (India) 2:05.89, 3. Sangeeta Yadav (India) 2:21.08. 1500m: 1. Sinimole Paulose (India) 4:21.13s, 2. Truong Thanh Hang (Vietnam) 4:22.82; Jhuma Khatun (India) 4:36.82. 100m hurdles: 1. Anastasiya Soprunova (Kazakhstan) 13.36s, 2. Natalya Ivoninskaya (Kazakhstan) 13.51, 3. Sheena Atilano (Philippines) 14.07. High jump: 1. Bui Thi Nhing (Vietnam) 1.88m, 2. Yekaterina Yevseyeva (Kazakhstan) 1.85, 3. Kavya Muthanna (India) 1.70. Long jump: 1. N. C. D. Priyadharshani (Sri Lanka) 6.17m, 2. Mayookha Johny (India) 6.16, 3. Thitima Muangjan (Thailand) 6.1. Discus: 1. Saroj Sihag (India) 52.13m, 2. Krishna Poonia (India) 51.78, 3. Amanpreet Kaur (India) 44.77.
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