Indians catch the eye

The Indian women's relay teams, 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 (below), performed splendidly, putting in the shade strong teams such as Australia and Cananda.-VIVEK BENDRE The Indian women's relay teams, 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 (below), performed splendidly, putting in the shade strong teams such as Australia and Cananda.

The host nation, India, acquitted itself well in track and field with six golds, seven silvers and six bronzes. Nandakumar Marar reports.

The third Commonwealth Youth Games saw sportspersons from 71 nations engaged in competition at venues of international standard at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports City, Balewadi, Pune. In athletics India had its largest contingent (58) for the nine disciplines on show, so these competitors and 13 coaches faced the most number of problems in the preparation phase. The rich medal haul of six golds, seven silvers and six bronzes by these youngsters can be viewed as a display of resilience in the face of man-made problems prior to the event like living quarters without fans and delay in the supply of accreditation cards leading to security roadblocks when entering the athletic stadium for training. The organisers were, however, present in strength to hand over medals to the Indian achievers climbing the victory podium. They again showed their hand by organising a victory parade of Indian medallists around Pune city after the Games ended.

The Indian National Anthem became the theme song. The Indians ruled in the relays, winning three out of four events, topped the charts in triple jump in the men’s and women’s categories and grabbed a major share of the medals in field events, as predicted by chief coach Suresh Babu in the buildup phase.

Parveen Kumar and M. V. Poovamma anchored the men’s and women’s 4x400 relays respectively. Dhiraj Mishra and Shraddha Ghule leapt to victory in the triple jump pit. For these champions and their team-mates, the heat of competition may have been the most soothing part of the CYG experience. The hours spent in the Pearl Apartments blocks without ventilation after the daily morning training sessions, then eating the food cooked in the car park below did not break their resolve when the opportunity rose to compete for flag and country.

Among these hardy athletes from different corners of India was multi-medallist Gayathri Govindharaj (second in women’s 100m hurdles and triple jump, first in 4x100 relay). “Fourteen seconds over 100 hurdles is good timing by Gayathri,” observed P. T. Usha. The former Indian track was in Pune for the Games to boost the morale of G. Shilpa, a trainee from Usha School of Athletics and India’s entry in the women’s 100m dash.

“The men’s relay team did well,” Usha added, referring to Parveen’s lung-bursting run as the anchor in the 4x 400 relay. “A gold is good motivation, though the shortage of competition was evident in the first two days. Anyway, this was just the third CY Games, so let us wait for a few more years for the competition levels to rise.” Gayathri won the 100 hurdles heat in 14.06 to better the Games mark (14.18) and then pushed Kierre Beckles of Barbados all the way in the final, settling for silver (14.00s).

The other inspiring moment for India came when Parveen’s spectacular run in the fourth leg of the men’s 4x400 relay pushed the home team in front, ahead of South Africa and New Zealand. The roar in the stands went up again when the women quarter-milers hit the track in the 4x400. Chinchu Jose opened the race and then Anu Maria Jose and Arya Chandrika widened the lead in the second and third legs. Beijing Olympian M. R. Poovamma left Canada and Australia far behind with a blistering fourth leg. The quartet clocked 3:42.02 for the gold though a 3:39.06 recorded in training means it can go faster when stretched.

India pipped Australia and Canada to the first place in the women’s 4x100 relay, though 100m semifinalist C. Shilpa’s exclusion from the quartet on medical grounds led to arguments between Usha and the Indian chief coach.

Usha felt that her protégé Shilpa was deliberately kept out on the basis of a medical certificate submitted by the team management without any medical checkup. “I know that if Shilpa was not fit there was no question of making her run the relay, but no doctor examined her. I know that after running the 100 heats and semifinals on the same day, she needed a breather but when her name was entered for the relay heats, I asked them to scratch out her name so that she would recover in time for the final. They replaced her instead citing the medical certificate. It is a game for them, but for us it is serious.”

Gayathri ran the anchor leg. Usha promised that her protégé will silence critics with her performance. “Shilpa is capable of doing 11.9 in the 100 with regular training. Watch her perform at the SAF Meet in Chennai or the Junior Meet in Mysore, she will go under 12 seconds.”

India coach Suresh Babu was not available for comment.

Sri Lankan Shehan Apeypitiyage and England’s Shaunna Thompson were the sprint sensations at the CYG. Shehan won the 100 and 200 (10.43s, 21.27s) running like a gazelle; Shaunna’s elegance on the track stood out enroute to the sprint double (11.46s and 23.42s). “Shehan is ensuring that the Lankan reputation for producing world class sprinters like Susanthika (Jayasinghe) and Damayanti (Darsha) is maintained. England have gained an athlete for the future in Shaunna,” remarked Usha.

Kenya’s Mercy Cherono chugged quietly around the track in the women’s 3000m, leading from start to finish and lapping runners on way to gold in 9:06.01 (Games record, old 9:42.95 set in 2004). The sprinters and Indian relay runners may have grabbed the spotlight for now, but Mercy is a world champion in the making.

THE RESULTS

ATHLETICS (India medal events only) Men - 200m: 1. Shehan Abeypitiyage (SL) 21.27s, 2. Ray Williams (Aus) 21.30, 3. Amiya Kumar Malik (Ind) 21.33. Long jump: 1.Stefan Brits (RSA) 7.38m, 2. Rositto Andrews (Ind) 7.24, 3. Azarudeen Buhari (Ind) 7.14. High jump: 1. Wayne Voight (RSA) 2.11m, 2. Nikhil Chittarasu (Ind) 2.09, 3. Derek Drouin (Can) 2.09. Triple jump: 1. Dhiraj Mishra (Ind) 15.42m, 2. Benjamin Williams (Eng) 15.41, 3. Rakola Motlhatlhego (SA) 15.20. Javelin: 1. Nandkrishan Tripathi (Ind) 71.52m, 2. Rohit Kumar (Ind) 67.60, 3. Luke Bissett (Aus) 65.64. Hammer: 1. Peter Smith (Eng) 68.38m, 2. Narayan Chandrodaya (Ind) 67.38, 3.Ejaj Ahmed (Ind) 64.97. Discus: 1. Julian Wruck (Aus) 60.88m, 2. Curtis Griffith (Eng) 55.35, 3. Arjun Kumar (Ind) 52.02. 4x400m relay: 1. India (Jithin Paul, Dharambir, Inderjeet Singh, Parveen Kumar) 3:13.32, 2. South Africa (3:14.01), 3. New Zealand (3:14.26).

Women - 400m:. 1. Sheayna Oskan (Eng) 54.90s, 2. M. V. Poovamma (Ind) 55.10, 3. Rebecca Nachula (Zam) 55.31. 100m hurdles: 1. Kierre Beckles (Bar) 13.88s, 2. Gayathri Govindharaj (Ind) 14.00, 3. Brianna Beahan (Aus) 14.08. Triple jump: 1. Shraddha Ghule (Ind) 13.11m, 2. Gayathri Govindharaj (Ind) 12.89, 3. Ainsley Ackerman (Aus) 12.72. Javelin: 1. Bianca Maurer (Aus) 49.87m, 2. Philippa Charlesworth (NZ) 46.14, 3. Poonam Rani (Ind) 44.25. 4x100m relay: 1. India - Nirupama Sundarraj, Bhagyashree Shirke, Shrabani Nanda, Gayathri Govindharaj (46.27s), 2. Australia (46.74), 3. Canada (46.83). 4x400m relay: 1. India (Chinchu Jose, Anu Mariam Jose, Arya Chandrika, M. V. Poovamma) 3:42.02, 2. Canada (3:45.46), 3. Australia (3:46.10).