Clifford, Karamjeet dazzle

AVINASH NAIR

RECOGNITION comes with performance. And when Karnataka's Clifford Joshua shrugged aside the strong field to seal his supremacy in the 200 metres for the second successive year, the Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI) selection committee could not ignore the sprinter any more. Clifford's 20.95 seconds for the longer sprint is the third best electronic time recorded by an Indian (Anil Kumar holds the top two timings).

Barring the splendid run by Clifford and Karamjeet Kaur's National record feat of 3.15 metres in the women's pole vault event, the 7th edition of the Senior Federation Cup, conducted by the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited, under the aegis of the All India Electricity Sports Control Board (AIESCB), at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium had nothing else to rave about.

There was a sprinkle of meet records - Anju Bobby George leaping to 6.49 m in the women's long jump, G. G. Pramila accumulating 5825 points in the multiple heptathlon event, V. V. Geesh Kumar of Kerala clearing 4.80 metres to better his own mark in the men's pole vault, Neelam J. Singh's discus effort of 59.41 metres. But then neither Anju, Pramila nor the Queen of the Disc Neelam could come anywhere near their personal best. Anju had leapt to a sizzling 6.74 metres in the Thiruvananthapuram Circuit meet while Neelam and Pramila had done much better last year when in fact most of the Indian athletes caused sensations.

Anju, with Pramila too taking part in the women's long jump, was expected to do much better, what with the World championships round the corner. However, with Pramila, after a string of 6.25-plus efforts managing just 6.32 m, Anju did not seem to go all out, finishing with 6.49 m. Shilpa Sequeira of Karnataka came in a good third with a 6.04 m effort.

Geesh Kumar, employed with Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) for the last four years, was fluent in his approach and clearance in the pole vault event wherein he did 4.80 metres, bettering his previous best of 4.75 metres set during the Lucknow Federation Cup last year.

Geesh, incidentally, is with the Pole Vault Academy set up by former National champion P. C. Tyagi in Delhi which of late has been throwing up a good number of jumpers.

Manoj Lal, Satbir Singh and Bhupendra provided the thrills in the 400m. It looked like the strongly built Satbir would run off at the straight, having done appreciably in the two Domestic circuit meets. But Manoj Lal, lying at the elbow of the front runner, shifted gears just in time to pip the Punjab runner at the post. Manoj was timed at 46.90 metres which was just over Paramjit's mark of 46.21 seconds set in Chennai in 1998. Ramachandran, recovering from a bout of chicken pox, who also has a 46-plus time to his credit, was on hand to applaud Manoj Lal's fine run.

Paramjit Singh, just back from the World Police Games where he won a gold and a silver (4x400m relay), turned up only on the second day of the meet.

Neelam, with or without Seema Antil, the world junior champion, in the fray dominates the discus throw ring. And here too, the Punjab lass, despite having problems initially, managed a good 59.41m for the gold and the record. Seema had briefly taken the lead with a 58.12m in her second throw, but could not improve upon it while Neelam came up with her golden effort in her fifth heave.

The first day witnessed sterling runs from both Sandeep Sarkaria and Kavita Pandya to underline the 'fastest man and woman' tag for the meet. Sandeep's 10.50 seconds was his personal best, leaving C. Thirugnanadurai and Clifford Joshua behind. "I got a good start which enabled me to accelerate from the halfway mark," said a beaming Sandeep after the race. Clifford too came up with his personal best of 10.60, enough to give him the bronze behind Durai.

In the corresponding event for women, the muscular Maharashtra girl Kavita Pandya was simply awesome. Off the blocks in great style, Kavita switched gears to romp home in a personal best time of 11.62 seconds, ahead of Mukti Saha of West Bengal, who clocked 11.64 s. Mukti's disappointment in losing the 100m gold saw the frail 19-year-old turn out splendid performances to win the 200m and the 100m hurdles gold medals, the final of the two events being held within 20 minutes of each other.

Mukti's effort in the two events brought a whiff of freshness to the three-day event.

Pramila, concentrating on the heptathlon besides the long jump, emerged a clear leader right from the first day and ascertained her supremacy over West Bengal's Soma Biswas in clear terms. Soma, who had upstaged Pramila at the Chennai Nationals with 6186 points, could not match the Karnataka girl who even proved superior in the shot put with a 11.64m effort as against Soma's 11.56m. The difference of 200 points at the end of the event looked awesome though Pramila clearly was not at her best.

P. S. Primesh of Kerala won the 800m gold on the final afternoon with a blistering run that left much fancied Manoj Lal and Jij Karan (M.P.) trailing at the straight. Primesh, who came into prominence in the last Nationals, took centre stage at the 600m mark and turned on the heat in the straight to clock 1:52.86 seconds.

Ananthapadmanabhan of Karnataka completed the two-day 10-event decathlon in a blaze of glory, although his points aggregate of 5917 was hardly inspiring. "After a lay off, I just began serious practice. I know the points are not much to rave about, but the gold is satisfactory," said the burly lad.

The javelin gold in men was decided by one good throw from Md. Fazal Ansari. The stocky Armyman hurled the spear to a distance of 75.89m in his fourth attempt, which was enough to seal the gold. Sunil Goswami of Delhi, despite a couple of 73-plus attempts, could not improve further to threaten Ansari's effort.

The women's javelin throw event, however, ran into a bit of a controversy as the 80 metres range javelin was used. Though procured by the AAFI in time for the event, most of the throwers were unhappy with the javelin provided and came up with lacklustre performances. National record holder Gurmeet Singh came in a poor fourth with a meagre 44.10m effort. U.P.'s Suman Devi clinched the gold with a 45.61m throw.

Madhuri A. Singh made it a creditable double, winning the women's 800m and 1500m with impressive timings while Sahebani Oram of Orissa clinched a close race in the women's 400m hurdles over V. Jayalakshmi of Indian Bank. Jayalakshmi showed good prowess in hurdles, however checked her stride nearing the last hurdle and the momentary stutter was enough to give the fast finishing Sahebani, at the outer lane, enough time to clinch the gold. "I was upset at being allotted the eighth lane (which has a distinct disadvantage) but I am happy at clinching the gold," said the Oriya girl.

Karamjeet Kaur, ASI with the Punjab Police, showed grit and gumption in good measure to scale a new high of 3.15 metres in the pole vault. With the rest of the field not progressing beyond 2.50m, it was Karamjeet all alone defying odds and gravity. Unperturbed by strong breeze, the wisp of a girl from Punjab egged on by her coach Paramjeet Kaur and manager Mahendra Singh sailed over the bar at 3.15 metres with little effort, improving upon her own mark of 3.10m set at the Calcutta Open Nationals. However, her efforts to clear 3.20m met with repeated failures.

Barring a few notable performances, the three-day meet lacked lustre ahead of what is supposedly going to be a hectic international schedule, what with the SAF Games in Islamabad and the Afro-Asian Games coming up after the World Championships at Edmonton.

The results:

Men: 100m: 1. Sandeep Sarkaria (Del) 10.40s, 2. C. Thirugnanadurai (S. Rly) 10.45s, 3. Clifford Joshua (Kar) 10.47s; 400m: 1. Manoj Lal (S. Rly) 46.90m, 2. Satbir Singh (Pun) 46.96s, 3. Lijo David (S. Rly) 47.10s; 1500m: 1. Mahendra Kumar (Army) 3:56.37s, 2. B. B. Manjunath (CRPF) 3:56.91s, 3. Rajesh Kumar (MP) 3:58.79s; Long jump: 1. Sanjay Rai (W.B.) 7.58m, 2. Satish Kumar (Del) 7.40m, 3. S. Ramachandran (T.N.) 7.36m; Pole Vault: 1. V. V. Geesh Kumar (Ker) 4.80m (NMR), 2. Jeetender Kumar (U.P.) 4.60m, 3. Ramdhari Singh (Army) 4.50m; Shot put: 1. Jaiveer Singh (Army) 18.66m, 2. Navpreet Singh (Pun) 18.37m, 3. Amit Tyagi (U.P.) 17.43 m; Javelin throw: 1. Md. Fazal Ansari (Army) 75.89m, 2. Sunil Goswami (Del) 73.28m, 3. Brahma Dubey (Mah) 72.90m. 200m: 1. Clifford Joshua (Kar) 20.95s, 2. Lijo David (S. Rly) 21.56s, 3. C. Thirugnanadurai (S. Rly) 21.69s; 10,000m: 1. Deep Chand (Army) 32:26.96s, 2. Jagannath Lakhada (Army) 32:27.06s, 3. Harish Tiwari (Uttaranchal) 32:33.33s; 20 km walk: 1. Gurudev Singh (Army) 1hr 31:12.55s, 2. Amrik Singh (Army) 1hr 31:56.30s, 3. Seetharam (Army) 1hr 33:12.17s; 400m hurdles: 1. Kanwar Rakesh (Army) 52.84s, 2. Ajimon C. A. (Army) 53.08s, 3. K. P. Visagami (S. Rly) 53.31s; High jump: 1. Omveer Singh (Assam) 2.07 m, 2. Armugam Pillai (S.Rly) 2.07m, 3. K. R. Roshan (Ker) 2.04m; Discus throw: 1. Hridayanand Singh (UP) 53.50m, 2. Amarjit Singh (BSF) 50.06m, 3. Arun Kumar (U.P.) 49.70 m. 800m: 1. P. S. Primesh (Ker) 1:52.86s, 2. Jij Karan (M.P.) 1:53.19s, 3. K. J. Manoj Lal (S. Rly) 1:53.63 s; 5000m: 1. Jaganath Lakhada (Army) 14:55.86s, 2. Deep Chand (Army) 14:58.81s, 3. Harish Tiwari (Uttaranchal) 14:59.99s; 110m Hurdles: 1. Ashok Kumar (Del) 14.65s, 2. J. D. Rajesh Kumar (AIESCB) 14.74 s, 3. Kuldeep Singh (Army) 14.98s; 3000m steeplechase: 1. Arun D'Souza (S. Rly) 9:11.14s, 2. Ranjan Kumar Jha (Army) 9:16.34s, 3. R. Suresh (Army) 9:17.89s; Triple jump: 1. Pritpal Singh (Pun) 16.05m (wind assisted), 2. Robin M. Verghese (AIESCB) 15.72m, 3. Deigo Braganza (Kar) 15.64m; Hammer throw: 1. Pramod Tiwari (U.P.) 66.80m, 2. Ishtiaque Ahmed (U.P.) 64.63m, 3. Kuldeep Singh (Pun) 61.50m; Decathlon: 1. K. Ananthapadmanabhan (Kar) 5917 pts, 2. Rajesh Kumar (CRRPF) 5845 pts, 3. Satish Kumar (Jharkand) 5557 pts; 4x100m Relay: 1. Karnataka 41.81s, 2. Southern Railway 41.86s, 3. Tamil Nadu 42.07s; 4x400m Relay: 1. Southern Railway 3:18.48s, 2. Madhya Pradesh 3:20.09s, 3. Army 3:20.32s.

Women: 100m: 1. Kavita Pandya (Mah) 11.62s, 2. Mukti Saha (W.B.) 11.64s, 3. V. Pandeshwari (S. Rly) 11.64s; 400m: 1. K. M. Beenamol (S. Rly) 52.66s, 2. Jincy Philip (CRPF) 53.70s, 3. Soma Biiswas (W.B.) 55.05s; 1500m: 1. Madhuri A Singh (PSEB) 4:3456s, 2. K. P. Sudha (CRPF) 4:42.81s, 3. Harjeet Kaur (Pun) 4:46.04s; Long jump: 1. Anju B. George (T.N.) 6.49m (NMR), 2. G.G. Pramila (S.Rly) 6.32m, 3. Shilpa Sequeira (Kar) 6.04m; Discus throw: 1. Neelam J Singh (Pun) 59.14 m (NMR), 2. Seema Antil (CRPF) 58.12m, 3. Sugan Yadav (Har) 50.53m; 200m: 1. Mukti Saha (W.B.) 23.93s, 2. Kavita Pandya (Mah) 23.99s, 3. V. Pandeshwari (S. Rly) 24.13 s; 10,000m: 1. L. Aruna Devi (W.B.) 35:56.9s, 2. Pampa Chandra (W.B.) 38:09.5 s, 3. Pashotleima Devi (Mani) 38:41.1 s; 100m Hurdles: 1. Mukti Saha (W.B.) 13.98s, 2. Anuradha Biswal (Ori) 14.08s, 3. Poonam B (Kar) 14.34s; 400m Hurdles: 1. Sahebani Oram (Ori) 1:00.78s, 2. V. Jayalakshmi (Indian Bank) 1:01.32s, 3. Rosaliyn Arokia Mary (T.N.) 1:01.78s; Triple jump: 1. Manisha Dey (W.B.) 13.23 m, 2. Kalpana Das (W.B.) 12.82m, 3. Shilpa Sequeira (Kar) 12.61m; Hammer throw: 1. Rajwinder Kaur (Pun) 51.71m, 2. Phool Pati (CRPF) 51.00m, 3. Y. Brojeshwari Devi (Assam) 47.77m. 800m: 1. Madhuri A Singh (PSEB) 2:07.55s, 2. Geeta Manral (CRPF) 2:09.99s, 3. Sunita Dahiya (Har) 2:11.85s; 5000m: 1. Sabita Biswas (W.B.) 17:54.83s, 2. Pampa Chanda (W.B.) 18:16.73s, 3. Madhuri Gurnule (Mah) 18:42.65s; 20 km walk: 1. Y. Bala Devi (W.B.) 1 hr 48:14.4 s, 2. Jasmine Kaur (Pun) 1 hr 58:39.9s, 3. Rajdeep Kaur (Pun) 1 hr 59:33.3s; Pole vault: 1. Karamjeet Kaur (Pun) 3.15 (National Record; Old: Own, 3.10m set in Calcutta, 2000), 2. Preethi (Kar) 2.50m, 3. Jyothna Deka (CRPF) 2.20m; High jump: 1. Sahana Kumari (Kar) 1.73m, 2. Harshini Kumari (Kar) 1.70m, 3. M. Sangeeta (T.N.) 1.65m; Shot put: 1. N. Latha (S. Rly) 15.67m, 2. Chaitali Paul (W.B.) 14.39m, 3. Harwant Kaur (Pun) 13.47m; Javelin throw: 1. Suman Devi (U.P.) 45.61m, 2. Manisha Mondal (W.B.) 45.23m, 3. S. Hemalatha (S. Rly) 44.17m; Heptathlon: 1. G. G. Pramila (S. Rly) 5825 pts (NMR), 2. Soma Biswas (W.B.) 5625 pts, 3. R. Sneha Princy (T.N.) 4630 pts.; 4x100m Relay: 1. West Bengal 47.22s, 2. Southern Railway 47.68s, 3. Karnataka 48.19 s; 4x400m relay: 1. Southern Railway 3:49.37s, 2. Tamil Nadu 3:51.05s, 3. CRPF 3:55.78s.

Team Championship: Men: Army 112 pts. Women: West Bengal 98 pts.

Best Athletes:

Sandeep Sarkaria (Men). K. M. Beenamol (Women).