ITS image sullied at the Sydney Olympics, Indian athletics is slowly on the path once again to resurrect itself on the big stage. But then, the results of the initial attempt towards that cause through the first leg of the National domestic circuit meet in Nagercoil on June 2 only proved that the country has still a long way to go, so as to catch up with the rest of the world. In fact, the pipe-opener of the new season was a forgettable affair, what with the meet hit by the absence of an array of top athletes and there being very little of effort from those around to catch the attention.
Consequently, mediocrity indeed was the order of the day before a couple of youngsters took it upon themselves the task to enliven the proceedings. This, of course, was something that brought about cheer and helped reassure many that the sport still has a future in this country. And then finally, there were these two veterans in K. M. Beenamol and Neelam Jaswant Singh who proved their worth with effortless wins over their rivals in the women's 200m and the discus throw respectively.
But in truth neither Beenamol, who did the country proud in Sydney by getting as far as the semifinals in the women's 400m, nor Neelam, the National record-holder in her pet event, could do anything better than young Navpreet Singh or Kavita Pandya, who emerged as the real hero and heroine of the meet, winning the men's shot put and the women's 100m in style. Virtually unnoticed at the senior level until now, the triumph of the two youngsters came undoubtedly like a whiff of fresh air, though, in more ways than one, the pressure from now on will be on them to establish their credentials further and live up to the expectations.
This certainly is going to be a tough test for both Navpreet and Kavita. But going by the manner in which they came out of their litmus tests, with Navpreet sighting victory after being engaged in a keen tussle with Jaiveer Singh and Kavita essaying a commendable run down the stretch without being unduly bothered about her immediate rivals, it would also be interesting to see how the two shape their careers in the years to come. Especially in the context where performances, however genuine they might be, still continues to raise suspicion in the absence of a fool-proof system within India to detect doping.
With both Shakti Singh and Bahadur Singh absent, the former caught up with some personal problems back home and the latter doing duty in the World Police Games, the shot put competition attracted only a thin field of four. And among them was Jaiveer Singh, touted already as a worthy successor to the ever-green Shakti Singh and as such the clear favourite of the day. In turn, the Railway athlete also looked to be focussed thoroughly to match up to that billing before Navpreet came in his way and stole a gallant march over Jaiveer.
Jaiveer, as he led the field, had throws of 17.92m and 17.94m in his first two efforts before he fouled his third trial and then touched what looked to be a winnable 18.17m in his last attempt. But then, Navpreet, lying second with a throw of 17.80m off this third attempt, was not finished for the day. It was a do-or-die situation for the 22-year-old to the catch the headlines and as he uncorked an unbeatable 18.58m in his fourth trial, poor Jaiveer could only stand and grimace at his own ill-luck. Kuleep Mann, also from the National camp, finished third, though he failed to do anything better than his opening effort of 17.20m, fouling all his remaining three throws.
Apart from Navpreet who claimed that he could have done better had the competition been held as scheduled, the other notable winners in the men's section during the day were Fazal Ansari, who won the javelin gold, and P. S. Primesh, winner of the 800m after running a lead race from start to finish. Fazal, employed in the Army and another newcomer into the National reckoning, like the winner of the shot put too, was an underdog behind the fancied B. S. Dubey and Sunil Goswami. But here again, the favourite was hardly a match for his younger rival as Fazal really rattled the field of six with his second attempt of 72.21m, which, as it were, also remained his best for the day. Dubey, in comparison, could only touch 71.06 off his last attempt while Goswami, who had led initially, came third with a throw of 70.51m.
Primesh, in terms of timing, did nothing worthy, but what still helped him gain recognition was his upset win over K. M. Binu in the two-lapper. Likewise, Satvir Singh had a dream win over both Lijo David Thottan and Jata Shankar in the men's 200m while the rest of the track events - the 100m and 1,500m - were won by the favourites, C. Thirugnanadurai and Joseph Baxla respectively. While Thirugnandurai had a handsdown win in the short dash, Baxla, however, had to survive a scare from unknown Sundar of Tamil Nadu.
The other events which formed the day's card failed to produce anything noteworthy, what with Pramod Tiwari - after National record-holder Ishtiaque Ahmed failed in both his initial attempts and thus made his exit - achieving only a poor 63.18m en route to his win in the hammer throw, Satish Kumar touching a dismal 7.29m in the long jump and Hridayanand - in the absence of Anil Kumar - managing an equally disappointing 52.18m in the discus throw. It is again in this context, the deed of Navpreet Singh and his decent effort of 18.58m gained in signficance.
The competition in the women's section too was marred by a poor turnout. But then, there was no stopping Kavita Pandya who made the most of a good start and left behind the seasoned V. Pandeswari for a memorable win in the 100m. Kavita, though timed only at 11.83s, could indeed gain satisfaction that the conditions offered were far from condusive for a top-flight competition and that she was a runaway winner inspite of being bothered by a clay track which was as hard as a rock. Never was this 21-year-old from Mumbai in any sort of trouble even as she dashed to the tape ahead of Pandeswari who eventually took the silver by staving off a spirited challenge from Tamil Nadu's K. N. Priya. If Kavita's strong finish evoked surprise, Vinita Tripathy's display of finishing fifth with a dismal time of 13.04s was a shock.
Beenamol, though suffering from fever, took her chance in the 200m to flag off the new season and like Kavita was an easy winner ahead of Jincy Philip and V. Jayalakshmi. Madhuri A. Singh too was hardly inspiring as she won the 800m rather comfortably while further disappointment was in store as the anticipated high voltage contest between Neelam and the world junior champion Seema Antil in the discus ring proved to be an anti-climax. Seema had won the tussle between the two in their last meeting, but here Neelam carried too many guns for her young adversary who could manage only 54.01m against her own best of 55.13m. Though a good eight metres shy of her own National record, it was still enough for Neelam to get to the top of the podium and thereby avenge that rare defeat she suffered at the hands of Seema in last year's Kolkata Open Nationals.
Men: 100m: 1. C. Thirugnanadurai (Rly) 10.84s, 2. Anand Menezes (Rly) 10.94s, 3. Sandeep Sarkar (Del) 10.96s. 200m: 1. Satvir Singh (SSCB) 21.92s, 2. Lijo David (Rly) 22.46s, 3. Jata Shankar (Pol) 22.55s. 800m: 1. P. S. Primesh (Ker) 1:55.31, 2. K. M. Binu (Rly) 1:56.30, 3. Jai Kumar (SSCB) 1:56.58. 1,500m: 1. Joseph Baxla (Pol) 4:00.15, 2. Sundar (T.N.) 4:00.17, 3. Arun D'Souza (Rly) 4:05.01. Long jump: 1. Satish Kumar (Del) 7.29m, 3. Ramachandran (T.N.) 7.13m, 3. Kannan (Indian Bank) 6.93m. Shot put: 1. Navpreet Singh (Pun) 18.58m, 2. Jaiveer Singh (Rly) 18.17m, 3. Kuldeep Mann (Pol) 17.20m. Discus throw: 1. Hridayanand Singh (Pol) 52.18m, 2. Jaiveer Singh (Rly) 50.38m, 3. Pramod Tiwari (U.P.) 45.19m. Javelin throw: 1.Fazal Ansari (SSCB) 72.21m, 2. B. S. Dubey (LIC) 71.06m, 3. Sunil Goswami (LIC) 70.51m. Hammer throw: 1. Pramod Tiwari (U.P.) 63.18m, 2. Vinod Kumar (U.P.) 60.81m, 3. Nirbhay Singh (Pun) 58.97m.
Women: 100m: 1. Kavita Pandya (Rly) 11.83s, 2. V. Pandeswari (Rly) 12.06s, 3. K. N. Priya (T.N.) 12.60s. 200m: 1. K. M. Beenamol (Rly) 25.19s, 2. Jincy Philip (Pol) 25.49s, 3. V. Jayalakshmi (Indian Bank) 25.70s. 800m: 1. Madhuri A. Singh (Pun) 2:14.46, 2. Harjeet Kaur (Rly) 2:14.56, 3. Sunita Dhaiya (Har) 2:14.67. Discus throw: 1. Neelam J. Singh (Rly) 55.13m, 2. Seema Antil (Pol) 54.01m, 3. Sugan Yadav (Rly) 51.80m.
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