Tamil Nadu emerges champion

The best of performances in the meet came in the under-18 age group where nine National records and four meet marks were established. S. Sabanayakan reports.

Billed as the final selection trials for the third Commonwealth Youth Games, to be held in Pune from October 12 to 18, the 20th National Inter-zonal Junior Athletics Championship gave ample evidence of talent available in this segment. The three-day championship, organised by the Jharkhand Athletics Association (JAA) at the J. R. D. Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur, will be remembered for two things: performance of the athletes and the feud between the two factions of the local association.

The best of performances came in the under-18 age group where nine National records and four meet marks were established. And in the junior men under-20 section, one meet record was lowered.

The championship also saw Tamil Nadu showcase its emerging talent in age-group athletics. Having come to Jamshedpur with a sizeable contingent, Tamil Nadu bagged 23 gold medals, apart from 20 silvers and 11 bronzes, to emerge overall champion for the first time. The state also won the team championships in both the boys and girls sections — a clear indication that its junior programme was on the right track.

Uttar Pradesh finished second with 15 gold, 11 silver and eight bronze medals. Haryana came third, bagging 12 gold, 10 silver and 13 bronze medals. The performance of the future stars of the country was, however, overshadowed by the clash of the two rival groups of the JAA. This almost threatened to disrupt the inter-zonal meet.

Some members of the faction opposed to the ruling group raided the playing arena armed with sticks and tried to scare the athletes and officials by breaking the electronic display boards. As the athletes ran for safety, the intruders pounced upon a couple of local officials and beat them up. And just when it looked like the meet would have to be abandoned, came the orders from New Delhi that the championship had to be completed in order to identify the probables for the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune. With the police taking charge of the stadium, the events continued in the dark until 8-30 p.m.

The meet, nevertheless, witnessed some sterling performances which drew praise from the chief junior National coach Suresh Babu. He closely monitored the performances of the athletes, took down notes and interacted with all those who did well. He singled out sprinter Nirupama Sunder Raj of Karnataka (under-16) for special praise. “She impressed me the most with her height and ability to accelerate. I can see another P. T. Usha in the making,” he observed.

The two National records, one by 110m hurdler Anil Soren of Bengal (14.12s) and the other by 100m hurdler G. Gayathry of Tamil Nadu (14.04s), were outstanding efforts. Soren’s effort bettered the existing Commonwealth Youth Games mark of 14.20 that stood in the name of Dominic Girdler (England). Similarly, Gayathry’s mark in the 100m hurdles eclipsed the Commonwealth Youth Games record of 14.11 by Sally McLellan (Australia). A number of new events were introduced in different age-groups this season. For example, pole vault was held for the first time in the girls under-18 section, while 200m, 1500m and 3000m (in place of 2000m) were introduced in the under-16 category.

Both the under-16 and under-18 age groups had medley relay with four legs comprising 100, 200, 300 and 400 for a total of 1000m. This was a new event in the under-18 age group, replacing the conventional 4x100 and 4x400 relays.

In the under-14 age group for boys and girls, 100m, 600m, high jump, long jump, shot put and triathlon were reintroduced after nearly a decade.

RECORDS THAT FELLNATIONAL RECORD

Boys U-18 — 110m hurdles: Anil Soren (Ben-EZ) 14.12s (previous: 14.38s by Akhil Krishnan of Kerala at the Junior Nationals in Vijayawada, November 2007). Long jump: Ankit Sharma (MP-WZ) 7.35m (previous: 7.33m by Sudhir Kumar of Haryana, Junior Nationals, Vijayawada, November 2007). Pole vault: Umesh Kumar Yadav (UP-NZ) 4.25m (previous: 4.20m by Virendra Singh of Gujarat, Cuttack, January 1999). Shot put: Jasdeep Singh (Pun-NZ) 19.91m (previous: 18.45m by Saurabh Vij, Commonwealth Youth Games, Bendigo, 2004). Hammer: Ezaz Ahmed (UP-NZ) 70.29m (previous: 67.09m by Chandrodaya Singh of UP, Allahabad, 2006). Octathlon: Arun Kumar (Ker-SZ) 5,458 points (previous: 5,364 points by A. Mubarak of Kerala, Bangalore, 2006).

Girls U-18 — 200m: Srabani Nanda (Ori-EZ) 24.87s (previous: 25.00s by Chitra K. Soman of Kerala, Bangalore, 2001). 100m hurdles: G. Gayathry (TN-SZ) 14.04s (previous: 14.39s by Poonam Beliappa of Karnataka, Nagercoil, 1996). Hammer: Kanika Kumari (Del-NZ) 50.46m (previous: 50.06m by Manju Bala of Rajasthan, Bangalore, 2006).

MEET RECORD

Boys U-18 — 200m: Amiya Kumar Mallick (Ori-EZ) 21.93s (previous: 22.02s by B. P. Ramachander of SZ, Bhubaneswar, 2005). 400m hurdles: Jibin Sebastian (Ker-SZ) 54.85s (previous: 54.86s by K. Shivanga Raju of SZ, Bhubaneswar, 2005).

Girls U-18 — Long jump: Aishwarya G. M. (Kar-SZ) 5.94m (previous: 5.93s by Jetty J. Joseph of SZ, Kolkata 1997). Triple jump: Shradha Ghule (Mah-WZ) 12.62m (previous: 12.34m by Tincy Mathew of SZ, Meerut, 2004).

Junior men U-20 — 400m: Praveen Kumar (Har-NZ) 47.74s (previous: 48.0s by P. I. Sebastian of SZ, New Delhi, 1992).