Kerala, a runaway winner

AN old tale was repeated as Kerala emerged winner in the 48th National School Games athletics championship held at Bangalore's Sree Kanteerava Stadium. Kerala (216.5 pts) triumphed for the sixth consecutive year while West Bengal had to be content with the runner-up slot.

New meet records (26) and Kerala's top performance were the highs but the championship was marred by the over-age controversy. The host Karnataka, which finished fifth, had its moment to cheer as 17-year-old Mohammed Muddassir emerged the fastest boy in the championship, clocking 10.7s in the under-19 100m dash. He equalled the earlier meet record held by Delhi's Ramnabik. Muddassir had earlier scripted a new record in the 200m, clocking 21.3s, edging past Umesh Singh's mark of 22.07s.

Kerala did not come up with anything special on the first two days but picked up momentum from then on. The medals came from the relay teams and the women's athletics contingent, which revelled in the sprints and the jumps. A. K. Saranya (under-19, 100m hurdles), Harsha Mathew (400m hurdles), C. A. Manjusha (5km walk), Salamma Antony (long jump), V. S. Libiya (triple jump), C. T. Raji (uner-17 100m) and U. Jasseena (under-14, 400m) brought glory to the team. The Kerala boys also added to the tally, with M. Ranjith topping the under-19 triple jump with a new meet record of 15.2m. Amidst the Kerala girls' dominance, Punjab's Iqbal Kaur and Mandeep Kaur took the under-19 and under-17 individual titles respectively.

Andhra Pradesh, despite the efforts of Govardhan (under-14) and P. Trinath (under-17), was pushed to the third spot with West Bengal sprinters bagging four golds in the 100m. Shibu Mondal (boys' under-14), Rahmatulla Molla (under-17), Labina Khatun (girls' under-14) and Shilpa Dhali (under-19) lent Bengal a final thrust on the concluding day to edge out Andhra.

The results (only winners):Boys:

Under-14: 100m: Shibu Mondal (WB) 11.7s; 200m: Shibu Mondal (WB) 23.5 s; 80m hurdles: Mohammed Azhar (MP) 11.2s; 4x100m relay: Kerala 46.5s; 400m: S. Govardhan (AP) 50.8s NMR, old: 51.34, P. Sunny Sharma (AP) 1998; 600m: S. Govardhan (AP) 1:25s; Long jump: Dipnakar Roy (WB) 6.23m; High jump: Chavda Laxman Bhai (Guj) 1.72m; Discus throw: Naveen (Har) 46.77m; shot put: Naveen (Har) 13.45m.

Under-17: 100m: Rahamatulla Molla (WB) 10.9s; 200m: Rajesh (Del) 22.1s NMR, old: 22.29, Surendra Singh (Har) 2001; 100m hurdles: Ashok Kumar (Raj) 14.0s; 4x100m: Delhi 42.8s NMR, old: 43.75, Kerala 2000; 400m: Rajesh (Del) 48.09s NMR, old: 49.0 Harjinder Singh (Chd) 1998; 800m: P. Trinath (AP) 1:55.6s; 1500m: P. Trinath (AP) 4:03.4s NMR, old: 4:03.7, Ummed Singh (Raj) 2001; 3000m: P. Trinath (AP) 9:07.00; 5km walk: Vikrant (Har) 23:24.9; Long jump: Budhuram Singh (Ori) 6.94m; High jump: Rajesh (Har), 1.93m NMR, old: 1.92, S. K. Niserlam (Asm) 2001; Triple jump: V. Vijeesh (Ker) 14.25m; Pole vault: Deepchand Yadav (UP) 4.12m NMR, old: 4.10m, Rampal (Guj) 2001; Javelin throw: Harminder (Del) 55.7m; Discus throw: Anil Kumar (Raj) 42.58m; Shot put: Samrambh Vij (Del) 15.75m; Hammer throw: Sunil Punila (Raj) 43.24m.

Under-19: 100m: Mohammed Muddassir (Kar) 10.7s; 200m: Mohammed Muddassir (Kar) 21.3s, NMR, old: 22.07, Umesh Patil (Guj) 2001; 4x100m relay: Kerala 41.8s NMR, old: 42.9, Kerala 2002; 110m hurdles: S. Krishnam Raju (AP) 14.9s EMR, Surender Sngh Rathur (UP) 1981: 400m: Appa Rao (AP) 48.02s NMR, old: 49.0, Abu Backer (Ker) 2000; 400m hurdles: Yuvraj Singh (Guj) 53.2 NMR, old: 54.18, Sampra Jore (Pun) 2001; 4x400m relay: Andhra Pradesh, 3:17.9s NMR, old: 3:20.36s, Kerala 2000; 800m: Umedh Singh (Guj) 1:52.09s NMR, old: 1:54.06s, Lakshmi Chand (UP) 1979; 1500m: Umed Singh (Guj) 4:04.6s; 5km walk: Iqrar (UP) 23:53.7s; 5000m: Teniji Gade (Mah) 16:10.4s; Long jump: Geobin Clement (Ker) 7.16m; High jump: Anil Kumar Chahal (UP) 1.95m; Triple jump: M. Ranjith (Ker) 15.20m NMR, old: 14.95, R. V. Sushantha (MP) 2002; Pole vault: Jinto Kappen (Ker) 3.90m; Discus throw: Ankush Puniya (UP) 44.94m; Javelin throw: Paragiyothi Baissya (Asm) 61.94m; Shot put: Satendra Singh (UP) 16.09m; Hammer throw: Ashish Kumar Singh (UP) 55.35m.

Girls:

Under-14: 100m: Labina Khatun (WB) 12.5s; 4x100m relay: WB 51.3s; 80m hurdles: Leena Thomas (Ker) 13.2s; 200m: Labina Bhumij (WB) 26.3s; 400m: C. Jasseena (Ker) 1:00.05s; 600m: Himi Jose (Ker) 1:38.3s NMR, old: 1:39.6s, B. L. Bharathi (Kar) 1996; Long jump: Rajani Hembram (Ori) 5.24m; High jump: Antana Khatur (WB) 1.50m; Discus throw: M. Sneha (Kar) 28.45m; Shot put: Jane Michelle (Kar) 9.19m.

Under-17: 100m: C. T. Raji (Ker) 12.5s; 100m hurdles: C. T. Raji (Ker) 15.7s; 4x100m relay: Kerala 48.8s NMR, old: 49.23, Kerala 2000; 200m: Mandeep Kaur (Pun) 25.0s NMR, old: 25.2, Victoria Anoka (Del) 1979; 400m: Mandeep Kaur (Pun), 56.04s NMR, old: 56.76, S. Geetha (AP) 1998; 800m: Mahalakshmi (Kar) 2:26.6s; 1500m: Jhuma Khatun (WB) 4:44.0s NMR, old: 4:50.6, K. Meena (WB) 1989; 3000m: Manpreet Kaur (Pun) 10:38.8s; 3km walk: Attinder Pal Kaur (Pun) 16:21.6; Long jump: Safina Khatun (WB) 5.22m; High jump: Kavya Muthanna (Kar) 1.58m; Triple jump: A. P. Alka Chikli (Ker) 12.05m; Pole vault: Saritha Kumari (Ker) 2.20m; Discus throw: Babli (Har) 36.11m; Shot put: Neha Singh (UP) 10.14m: Javelin throw: Renu (Har) 36.75.

Under-19: 100m: Shilpi Dhali (WB) 12.2s; 200m: Aruna Kumari (AP) 24.9s; 4x100m relay: Kerala, 48.2 NMR, old: 48.7, Kerala 2001; 100m hurdles: A. K. Saranya (Ker) 14.7s NMR, old: 14.9s, Aravinda (Guj) 2002; 400m: B. P. Mangala (Ker) 56.09s; 400m hurdles: Harsha Mathew (Ker) 1:04.4s; 4x400m relay: Kerala 3:54.2s; 800m: Iqbal Kaur (Pun) 2:15.03s; 1500m: Iqbal Kaur (Pun) 4:46.5s; 300m: Kavita Raut (Mah) 10:379s; 5000m: Renu Joon (Har) 18:56.04; 5km walk: C. A. Manjusha (Ker) 27:39.4s; Long jump: Salamma Antony (Ker), 5.48m; High jump: Krishna Teja (AP) 1.58m; Triple jump: V. S. Libiya (Ker) 12.32m NMR, old:12.31, same athlete 2002; Pole vault: Chethana Solanki (Guj) 3.30m NMR, old: 2.50, same athlete 2002; Hammer throw: Ushma (Del), 42.64m NMR, old: 42.32, Sarabjit Kaur (Pun) 2002: Discus throw: Indu Bala (Har), 38.73m; Shot put: Ketki Bakare (Mah) 11.88m; Javelin throw: Sanjo Devi (HP) 42.52m.

Team championship: Kerala 216.5 pts; Boys: Kerala, 67.25 pts; Girls: Kerala, 147 pts; Individual champions: S. Govardhan (AP), Shibu Mondal (WB) and Naveen (Har) — boys' under-14; P. Trinath (AP) — boys' under-17; Umedh Singh (Guj) — boys' under-19; Labina Khatum (WB) — girls' under-14; Mandeep Kaur (Pun) — girls' under-17; Iqbal Kaur (Pun) — girls' under-19.

Medals tally (Top five teams. Read as gold, silver, bronze, total): 1. Kerala 21-29-10-60; 2. West Bengal 11-9-12-32; 3. AP 10-6-8-24; 4. Haryana 8-6-8-22; 5. Karnataka 7-8-7-22. — K. C. Vijaya Kumar