Punjab’s Harwant Kaur throwing in Madurai, India (© Ram. Murali Krishnan)
Discus thrower Harwant Kaur and heptathlete J.J. Shobha made the Olympic grade during the four day Indian Inter-State Championships which concluded here at the M.G.R. Race Course Stadium on Wednesday (18 June).
The first two days of the competition went on without any impressive performances due to gusty winds, and an hour long fireworks display as part of the opening ceremony on the first day also disturbed proceedings!
Humid weather conditions at this Temple city forced the organizers to conduct the events in late evening.
Harwant, second Indian thrower to qualify for Beijing
On the penultimate day, Punjab’s Harwant Kaur became the second Indian woman to qualify for the Olympic Games in the Discus Throw. She sent out her implement to 61.09m to join Krishna Poonia, who had already made the “A” standard (61.00) with a 63.74m throw while competing in Salinas, California last month.
However, Seema Antil, the former World Junior bronze medallist, failed to accomplish her dream of joining the duo in Beijing as her best at Madurai was only 58.22m.
Shobha ‘in’ and Sushmita ‘out’ in Heptathlon
J.J. Shobha of Andhra Pradesh attained the Olympic ‘A’ grade on the last day of the championship with a tally of 6043 points in Heptathlon but Bengal’s Sushmita Singharoy, who already achieved the “B” standard, did not make the Beijing squad as her total was 25 points lesser than the required 6000 for Beijing.
Mohan betters national record
The Andhra Pradesh camp was full of joy once again as their hurdler Krishna Mohan broke the national record for the men’s 110m Hurdles clocking 14 seconds flat. His coach Ramesh, who helps with the fitness training of the national hockey team, was not happy however. “I expect much better performances from him and P. Shankar, who won the 400m hurdlers earlier” he confirmed after the race.
Long jumper Anju Bobby George arrived in Madurai, just a day before her competition and could only reach 6.50m. “We are looking for the Asian Grand Prix series starting at Bangkok on 23 June towards our journey to Beijing”, her husband-cum-coach Bobby George told the reporters after the event.
While distance runners Kashinath Aswale and O.P. Jaisha, as well as sprinter Poonam Tomar, completed a “double” victories at the meet, in the end it was triple jumper Amarjeet Singh and quarter miler Mandeep Kaur who were adjudged as the best athletes of the meet among men and women respectively.
Athletes from the state of Jharkhand garnered 12 gold, 6 silver and 7 bronze medals while Kerala finished second with 11-6-8, after a costly mistake in the men’s 4x400m relay, and hosts Tamil Nadu finished in third position (4-5-6).
Indian success in the UK
India’s long distance star Surendra Singh had bettered the national 10,000m record while competed in the BMC Nike Elite meeting at Watford, UK on 14 June. He came first in the British Olympic trials race in a time of 28:22.79, which erased Hari Chand’s record of 28:48.72 set at the Montreal Olympics 1976. Unfortunately it still falls way short of the Beijing grade of 28:10. However his teammate Preeja Sreedharan, who improved the women’s national record with a time of 32:04.41, made it. The “B” qualifying mark is 32:20
Ram. Murali Krishnan for the IAAF
Results:
MEN
100m (15) (-0.3):
1. Sameer Mon (Ker) 10.50; 2. Vilas Neelgund (AP) 10.55; 3. Ajay Kumar Naik (Jhar) 10.61;
200m (17) (0.0):
1. Vilas Neelgund (AP) 21.38; 2. P. Muthusamy (TN) 21.76; 3. Ritesh Anand (Jhar) 21.87;
400m (18):
1. K.M. Binu (Ker) 46.32; 2. Bipin Mathew (MP) 46.82; 3. S.K. Mortaza (Jhar) 47.02;
800m (17):
1. Prakash Verma (Del) 1;51.58; 2. Naresh Yadav (Guj) 1:51.77; 3. K.J. Arun (Ker) 1:52.15;
1500m (15):
1. Sandeep (Har) 3:50.77; 2. Prakash Verma (Del) 3:50.89; 3. K.K. Ranjan (Chat) 3:53.06;
5000m (18):
1. Kashinath Aswale (Jhar) 13:54.24 (NMR); 2. Ajaikumar Patel (UP) 13:57.65; 3. Santosh Patel (Jhar) 14:18.61;
10,000m (15):
1. Kashinath Aswale (Jhar) 29:12.65; 2. Ajaikumar Patel (UP) 29:27.03; 3. Soji Mathew (Ker) 29:48.26;
110m Hurdles (18) (-1.0):
1. Krishna Mohan (AP) 14.00 (National Record); 2. Sandeep Parmar (Mah) 14.58; 3. D. Prasad (AP) 14.82;
400m Hurdles (16):
1. P. Shankar (AP) 50.89; 2. Joseph G. Abraham (Ker) 50.97; 3. T. Balamurugan (TN) 51.95;
3000m Steeplechase (17):
1. Om Prakash (Guj) 8:46.92 (NMR); 2. Elam Singh (Jhar) 8:47.37; 3. Ravinder Khade (Guj) 9:28.79;
High Jump (15):
1. Prince Jose (Ker) 2.05; 2. B. Elankumaran (TN) 2.05; 3. Benadict Starli (TN) 2.05;
Pole Vault (16):
1. Gajanan Upadhyay (Jhar) 4.80; 2. Sunder Singh (Pun) 4.70; 3. K.P. Bimin (Ker) 4.60;
Long Jump (17):
1. Maha Singh (Pun) 7.57/0.0; 2. Shamsher Pratap Singh (Pun) 7.56/0.0; 3. Rajeev Kumar (Del) 7.51/0.7;
Triple Jump (15):
1. Amarjeet Singh (Jhar) 16.67/0.6 (NMR); 2. M. Renjith (Ker) 16.21/-0.2; 3. Bibu Mathew (Ker) 15.90/0.1;
Shot Put (18):
1. Satyender Singh (Jhar) 18.02; 2. P.V. Giri (MP) 17.73; 3. Mukesh Singh (Del) 17.30;
Discus Throw (18):
1. Amritpal Singh (Jhar) 52.95; 2. Simranjit Singh (Pun) 51.49; 3. Karan Singh (Har) 48.97;
Hammer Throw (16);
1. Joginder (UP) 58.54; 2. Madhu Kumar (Har) 57.92; 3. Yogesh Singh Jhar) 57.92;
Javelin Throw (17):
1. Kashinath Naik (Jhar) 72.22; 2. Amit Majumdar (Bih) 70.32; 3. Anil Kumar (Har) 69.01;
Decathlon (17):
1. P.J. Vinod (Ker) 7150; 2. Daya Ram (Jhar) 7023; 3. Vikram Singh (Pun) 6718;
20000m Walk (17):
1. Satya Narayan (Chat) 1:34:27.48; 2. Ashok Kumar Patel (Chat) 1:36:22.14; 3. Satyanarain (Raj) 1:43:56.49;
4x100m Relay (18):
1. Kerala 41.30; 2. Andhra Pradesh 41.34; 3. Jharkhand 41.42;
4x400m Relay (18):
1. Madhya Pradesh 3:12.67; 2. Kerala 3:13.35; 3. Tamil Nadu 3;16.37;
WOMEN
100m (15) (-0.7):
1. Poonam Tomar (Del) 11.93; 2. Saradha Narayan (TN) 11.98; 3. H.M. Jyothi (AP) 12.01;
200m (17) (0.0):
1. Poonam Tomar (Del) 24.64; 2. H.M. Jyothi (AP) 25.02; 3. R. Elavarasi (TN) 25.26;
400 (17):
1. Mandeep Kaur (Pun) 51.74 (NMR); 2. Chitra K. Soman (Jhar) 52.71; 3. S. Geetha (AP) 53.89;
800m (17):
1. A. Vijila (Ker) 2:06.80; 2. Sunita (Del) 2:07.73; 3. Priyanka Patel (UP) 2:09.77;
1500m (15):
1. O.P. Jaisha (Ker) 4:24.08; 2. Priyanka Patel (UP) 4:27.58; 3. Kiran Tiwari (UP) 4:31.88;
5000m (18):
1. Preethi L. Rao (Jhar) 17:13.13; 2. M. Sudha (TN) 17:56.55; 3. Reshma Dalvi (Mah) 18:33.81;
10,000m (15):
1. Preethi L. Rao (Jhar) 36:23.62; 2. M. Sudha (TN) 38:08.59; 3. C.A. Manjusha (Ker) 40:08.30;
100m Hurdles (18) (1.3):
1. Anuradha Biswal (Ori) 13.82; 2. Poonam Bojanna (Jhar) 14.28; 3. Shreema Priyadarshani (Karn) 14.60;
400m Hurdles (16):
1. Harpreet Kaur (Jhar) 1:00.31; 2. Pooja Jakhar (Del) 1:00.44; 3. Sutapa Das (Ben) 1:02.60;
3000m Steeplechase (17):
1. O.P. Jaisha (Ker) 10:20.15 (NMR); 2. Sudha Singh (Jhar) 10:29.94; 3. Kiran Tiwari (Utk) 10:51.42;
High Jump (18):
1. Sahana Kumari (Jhar) 1.85; 2. Mallika Mondal (Ben) 1.74; 3. Marian C. Tharian (Del) 1.74;
Pole Vault (15):
1. V.S. Surekha (TN) 3.70; 2. R. Jisha (Ker) 3.00; 3. R. Remya (Ker) 2.60;
Long Jump (18):
1. Anju Bobby George (TN) 6.50/0.4; 2. Mayookha Johny (Ker) 6.18/-0.3; 3. M.A. Prajusha (Ker) 5.97/0.0;
Triple Jump (16):
1. Mayookha Johny (Ker) 13.23/0.5; 2. M.A. Prajusha (Ker) 12.94/0.4; 3. A.P. Alka Chikli (Ker) 12.09/-0.5;
Shot Put (15):
1. N. Latha (TN) 13.43; 2. Sushma (Del) 13.09; 3. Patwant Kaur (Pun) 12.95;
Discus Throw (17):
1. Harwant Kaur (Pun) 61.09; 2. Seema Antil (Har) 58.22; 3. Parbati Sethi (Ori) 45.39;
Hammer Throw (15):
1. Vipin Kumari (Del) 52.12; 2. Archana Bara (Bih) 49.66; 3. Sukanya Mishra (UP) 48.09;
Javelin Throw (16):
1. S. Saraswathi (TN) 46.34; 2. Suman Devi (UP) 44.43; 3. Mukesh Kumari (Har) 42.45;
Heptathlon (18):
1. J.J. Shobha (AP) 6043; 2. Sushmita Singharoy (Ben) 5975; 3. Pramila Aiyappa (Jhar) 4969;
20000m Walk (16):
1. Deepmala Devi (Jhar) 1:47:55.57; 2. Y. Bala Devi (Jhar) 1:51:13.58; 3. Supriya Adak (Mah) 1:53:15.99;
4x100m Relay (18):
1. Kerala 46.91; 2. West Bengal 47.76; 3. Tamil Nadu 47.87;
4x400m Relay (18):
1. Kerala 3:44.44; 2. Andhra Pradesh 3:52.58; 3. Tamil Nadu 4:03.59;
