But for MR Poovamma reinforcing her credentials as the best quarter-miler in the country, there was little to brag about on the penultimate day of the 53rd Open National Athletics Championship. Otherwise, slack organising was the central theme of the rain-hit day.
The word ‘unreasonable’ best sums up the organisers’ logic in holding the heats and finals of the 400m on the same day. That too after the 400m was widely billed as the marquee fixture of the tournament, which fielded more international athletes than any other stream.
Amidst these distractions, Poovamma proved unflappable in a grid replete with stars. Tintu Luka, Anu Mariam Jose, Ashwini Akkunji and Anilda Thomas were all capable of upsetting Poovamma, who has established herself as the country’s titular figure in 400m.
Despite her recent form, Poovamma knew the race was by no means a cakewalk. And she set off to a near-perfect start and rocketed off to a handy lead.
But Tintu wasn’t to be shaken. Braving the fatigue of her gold-winning 800m spurt on Sunday and heats in the morning, she kept snapping at Poovamma’s heels and was within touching distance, so much so that the race seemed heading for a photo-finish. But Poovamma timed 53.96s, two hundredths of a second faster than Tintu.
Tintu’s mentor PT Usha felt Tintu was undone by rain and scheduling. “Tintu ran the 800m on Sunday in rain and that affected her performance in the 400m. The heats and final of the 400m was held too closely and there was no resting time,” she told TNIE.
Two meets records were created on the day. In women’s javelin, ONGC’s Anu Rani entered the record-book with an effort of 54.35m while Sudha Singh clocked 10:09.04s to better her mark in steeplechase.
RESULTS: Men: 110m hurdles: A Suresh (RLYS) 14.19s, K Prem Kumar (AP) 14.34, T Balamurugan (TN) 14.41. 3000m steeplechase: Jaiveer Singh (SER) 9:00.41, Sachin Patil (RLYS) 9:09.12, Karamvir (SER) 9:14.15. High jump: Jithin C Thomas (SER) 2.11m, A Shaiju (SER) 2.08m, Chethan (KAR) 2.05m. Discus throw: Arjun (HAR) 54.10m, Dharam Raj (SER) 50.99m, Karan Singh (RLYS) 50.19m. 20km walk: K Ganapathi (SER) 1:27:18.15s, Gurmeet Singh (RLYS) 1:28:19.30s, Baljinder Singh (PUN) 1:29:09.08s.
Women: 400m: MR Poovamma (ONGC) 53.96s, Tintu Luka (RLYS) 53.98, Chavi Sharawat (RLYS) 54.44. 100m hurdles: G Gayathry (TN) 13.70s, J Hemasree (LIC) 14.19, MM Anchu (RLYS) 14.31. 3000m steeplechase: Sudha Singh (RLYS) 10:09.04, Lalita Babar (RLYS) 10:33.40, Kiran Tiwari (HAR) 10:52.75. Pole vault: Khyati Vakharia (ONGC) 3.70m, VS Sureka (RLYS) 3.60m, Kiranbir Kaur (Police) 3.50m. Triple jump: MA Prajusha (RLYS) 12.91m, V Neena (RLYS) 12.76m, Mareena Joseph (Police) 12.50m. Javelin throw: Annu Rani (ONGC) 54.35m, Rupinder Kaur (Police) 48.16m, S Saraswathy (RLYS) 48.07m.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Sport / by Shan AS – Ranchi / September 10th, 2013
