Kan Singh, Aman Saini and Preeja corner glory

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, AUG. 9. A havildar with the 3rd Grenadier Regiment and posted currently in Jabalpur, Kan Singh proved to be a lucky first-time participant of the Travancore marathon as the seventh edition of Rs.4,00,000 prize-money event rolled into the pages of history on Thursday. Into the lead soon after the 16km- mark and unchallenged since then, the 33-year-old was timed at 2:30:37 as he found the tape ahead of a star-studded field that included two former champions and an equal number of Sri Lankans.

The success story that Kan Singh essayed also fetched him his biggest pay-cheque to date, Rs.1,52,000, as a sum of Rs.48,000 was deducted from the originally announced cash prize of Rs.2 lakhs following his failure to meet the target time of 2 hours and 20 minutes introduced from this year. Nevertheless, the Army runner was still at a loss of words initially as he emerged the winner of the demanding race leaving behind of H. A. Chinnappa of MRC, Nilgris, and Mahesh Singh Fartyal from the State of Uttranchal, in the second and third spots.

In the 10km road race for men, Aman Saini produced a powerful kick with 2km remaining to devastate the rest of field and take the top spot in 32:38. The TISCO runner collected Rs.50,000 for his effort while second-placed Raj Pal (Delhi) and third-placed Joseph Baxla (CISF) were awarded Rs.20,000 and Rs.10,000 respectively.

Preeja Sreedharan of Kerala also made it a memorable day as she won the 5km road race for women in 19:00. The Mahatama Gandhi University athlete was trailing behind Sharda Vittal Gavande (Central Railway) before she caught with her rival near to the University stadium. Sunitha of Delhi was placed third.

The results:

Men (marathon): 1. Kan Singh (3rd Grenadiar, Jabalpur), 2:30:37, 2. H. A. Chinnappa (MRC, Nilgris), 2: 31.42, 3. Mahesh Singh Fartyal (Uttranchal), 2:32:48, 4. Bhairav Singh Lone (Western Railway), 2:33:33, 5. R. Sithra Kumara (Sri Lanka), 2:36:01, 6. Parminder Singh (RCF), 2:37:15, 7. T. G. Nanaiah (MRC, Nilgris), 2:38:38, 8. Yaswant Singh Borde (BSF), 2:39:49, 9. Kumar Bora (Indian Army), 2:40:20, 10. Satya Prakash (Madhya Pradesh), 2:42:46.

10km road race: 1. Aman Saini (TISCO), 32:38, 2. Raj Pal (Delhi), 33:52, 3. Joseph Baxla (CISF), 33:55.

Women (5km road race): 1. Preeja Sreedharan (Kerala), 19:00, 2. Sharda Vittal Gavande (Central Railway), 19:32, 3. Sunitha (Delhi), 19:32.

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Section  : Sport
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