Pandey hogs the limelight

RAKESH RAO

WORDS like poise and grace are associated with gymnastics. Sadly, when one describes the performances of those pursuing the sport in India, such words rarely find a mention. More often than not, rightly so.

No doubt, the country's gymnasts work hard at gaining perfection, but become victims of comparisons with their counterparts from Russia, Romania etc. Such unfair comparisons have left many aspiring gymnasts heart-broken. That is why it is so heartening to discover an exception.

Vikas Pandey's exploits made the gymnastic competition of the National Games a memorable affair. He captured all eight gold medals at stake. He helped Uttar Pradesh retain the team gold before sweeping all seven individual golds in the men's section.

Never before has a gymnast dominated a national level meet as this 18-year-old from Allahabad did at Patiala. At Imphal in 1999, Pandey had won the individual all-around, floor exercise and horizontal bar titles. This time, it was Pandey all the way.

Nothwithstanding some liberal scoring, Pandey was easily the most deserving champion of these Games. The highlight of his medal sweep was his performance on the pommel horse. After becoming the first to touch the value of '10' in this event, he garnered 9.625 in the team championship and had another impressive 9.425 during his routine for the individual all-around title.

No wonder, Pandey, a final year student of B. Com. from the Allahabad University, is nursing hopes of winning a medal in the Commomwealth and Asian Games next year.

Even as Pandey hogged all the limelight, his UP teammates, Mayank Srivastava and Mohit Yadav, too, contributed their mite in UP's title-triumph. It did not come as a surprise when Pandey, Srivastava and Yadav finished in that order in the individual all-around final.

Even in the floor exercise, Pandey was followed by teammates Sharat Chandra and Abhinav Dixit in the medal-bracket.

Among the women, favourite Tumpa Debnath could have done better had she not ended up with a ruptured-ligament of her left knee after failing to land perfectly on her first attempt on the vault.

After ensuring the team title for Bengal and claiming the individual all-around title, Tumpa was expected to win at least three more individual golds. But the injury has put a question mark over her return to the sport she loves most. Considering her modest background, Tumpa needs all the financial help to raise around Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1 lakh required for the treatment.

With Tumpa out of action, the apparatus golds were shared by Andhra Pradesh's A. Swapna (vault), Punjab's Rohika (floor), Bengal's Rakhi Debnath (uneven bars) and Sundari Mondal (beam).

In the rhythmic category, Punjab's lanky girl, Rajani Sharma, was clearly the best on view. She underscored her superiority by winning the individual all-around crown besides claiming the titles while performing with rope and hoop. Rajani also added a bronze for her showing with the ribbon.

When it came to exhibiting the skills with ball and ribbon, Jammu and Kashmir's Sonia proved the best.

The results:

Men: Individual (all-around final): 1. Vikas Pandey (UP) 51.85 points; 2. Mayank Srivastava (UP) 49.50; 3. Mohit Yadav (UP) 49.00. Floor: 1. Vikas Pandey (UP) 8.57; 2. A. Sharat Chandra (UP) 8.45; 3. Abhinav Dixit (UP) 8.32. Pommel Horse: 1. Vikas Pandey (UP) 9.42; 2. Mayank Srivastava (UP) 8.87; 3. Prasanjit Bhadra (Ben) 8.00. Ring: 1. Vikas Pandey (UP) 8.57; 2. Kuldip Kumar (Pun) 8.37; 3. Mahendra Kumar (MP) 8.27. Vault: Vikas Pandey (UP) 8.41; 2. Kapil Kaushal (Har) 8.28; 3. Rajeev Ranjan (Del) 8.27. Parallel Bars: 1. Vikas Pandey (UP) 8.50; 2. Rajeev Ranjan (Del) 8.40; 3. Pradeep (Har) 8.32. Horizontal Bar: 1. Vikas Pandey (UP) 8.75; 2. Mohit Yadav (UP) 7.85; 3. Jaydeep Sharma (Pun) 7.72. Team championship: 1. Uttar Pradesh 252.30; 2. Punjab 240.45; 3. Services 229.55.

Women: Individual (all-around final): 1. Tumpa Debnath (Ben) 31.40; 2. Rohika (Pun) 29.87; 3. Sundari Mondal (Ben) 29.70. Vault: 1. A. Swapna (AP) 8.63; 2. Rakhi Debnath (Ben) 8.25; 3. Meenakshi (Pun) 8.13. Uneven Bars : 1. Rakhi Debnath (Ben) 7.55; 2. Sundari Mondal (Ben) 7.30; 3. Rohika (Pun) 6.92. Beam: 1. Sundari Mondal (Ben) 7.32; 2. Rakhi Debnath (Ben) 7.30; 3. Meenakshi (Pun) 7.27. Floor: 1. Rohika (Pun) 7.97; 2. Neha Gohar (Mah) 7.65; 3. P. Swapna (AP) 7.60. Team championship: 1. Bengal 153.65; 2. Punjab 144.35; 3. Maharashtra 133.90.

Rhythmic Gymnastics: Individual (all-around finals): 1. Rajani Sharma (Pun) 15.19; 2. Sonia (J&K) 14.4; 3. Pallavi (Mah) 14.19. Rope: 1. Rajani Sharma (Pun) 5.45; 2. Sonia (J&K) 5.15; 3. Jaismita (Mah) 5.15; Hoop : 1. Rajani Sharma (Pun) 5.46; 2. Jaismita (Mah) 4.90; 3. Pallavi (Mah) 4.78; Ball: 1. Sonia (J&K) 5.51; 2. Jaismita (Mah) 5.03; 3. Pallavi (Mah) 4.86. Ribbon: 1. Sonia (J&K) 5.51; 2. Shakshi (J&K) 5.00; 3. Rajani Sharma (Pun) 4.90.