Neelam Singh heaves to a new distance

By S. Thyagarajan

NAGERCOIL, JULY 1. Threatening clouds hung like a canopy over the Anna Stadium and the coconut groves that formed a rim around the venue swayed in the stiff breeze gripping the host unit officials in the vortex of uncertainty as another edition of the National domestic circuit athletics meet was consigned to history here on Saturday. It was sheer providence that the event went through despite slight alterations in the schedule.

Overnight rain and the wet mud track raised grave misgivings about the programme going through the full stretch. Eventually, everything proved the old saying ``all's well that ends well'' However, the quarter-mile races for men and women had to be cancelled owing to the poor condition of the track, especially at the bends, and the 5000 metres for men was reduced to 3000.

All the big names were there, save for Sunita Rani, but the enthusiasts could not see Beenamol in action in the quarter-mile. It is a moot point whether Beenamol would have figured in the competition as coach Bahadur Singh revealed that she was suffering from a slight thigh muscle pain.

The Indians who went to Ukraine meet returned here in two batches and Beenamol, along with Neelam J. Singh reached the venue only late in the evening. Neelam ended the day in a blaze of glory as she landed the disc for a personal best of 61.37 metres, a 0.31m beyond the A grade qualification mark for the Sydney Olympics, on her first throw. In fact the discus event was delayed by a quarter of an hour to accommodate the champion.

That Neelam would get into the Olympic fold was not difficult to guess as she had already made it to the B Grade, and it was only a matter of time for her to conquer the IAAF fixed qualifying standard of 61.0m.

Given her performance chart, Neelam's progression has been striking since the Inter-state meet at Calcutta in 1998 where she did 59.44m and then went on to establish the National record last year with a throw of 60.28 at the Travancore Open. She managed only a 57.91 in the International domestic meet at Bhopal and missed the next two. Now she has began the second phase in a splendid fashion.

Preceding Neelam's memorable effort was that of Jebeshori Devi, who again proved her stature as the best hammer thrower on the distaff side. Originally, the hammer event for women was not in the schedule but was included in the last minute. Jebeshori began her assault on the National mark by hitting a 57.86m on her first throw, against her previous best of 56.56m recorded at the circuit meet in Hissar. Even her third throw of 56.82m bettered her National mark.

A 22-year old from Imphal and a product of National Sports Talent Scheme and Sports Hostel, Manipur, Jebeshori Devi has been a consistent performer on the circuit. She acknowledged her progression to the efforts the coach, Priyo Kumar and Ken Bosen.

There was a debate whether the records by Neelam and Jebeshori should be accorded the status since both the events were held as a mixed competition. Now, the ball is in the court of AAFI to clarify on the issue.

The tussle between long jumpers Pramila Ganapathy of Karnataka of Anju B. George (nee Markose) had an abrupt end as it were with the former moving up in the third jump to 6.19 metres when Anju completed 6.16 in the second. After that Anju withdrew leaving Pramila a clear winner. Circumspection was the keyword for all the athletes on view in the light of the loose and wet track. ``We are not concentrating on time today,'' the chief Coach Bahadur Singh, remarked before the meet began.

Bahadur Singh qualifies

In the field events however there was some competition among men, with Shakti Singh anchoring a double in shot put and discus without much of a strain. In the shot put event, Bahadur Singh who achieved a distance of 19.70 metres also made the A Grade mark for the Olympics. Anil Kumar won the short sprint with ease after beating the early challenge from Sandeep Singh and Thirugananadorai midway through. He clocked 10.76s.

Paramjit Singh, the ace quarter-miler, faced the starter in the B race, and won at 11.05s. On the distaff side, Rachita Mistry stretched herself a bit to beat Saraswathi Dey in 11.70 s.

Probably, the keenest race in the men's section was the 3000 metres which Gulab Chand won with a splendid burst in the last 200 metres. He ran a well judged race in which Thangadurai of Tamil Nadu secured the early lead with Gojen Singh maintaining a fair lead till the final lap. Veteran Bahadur Prasad ran rather listlessly and pulled out in the last lap.

The athletics fraternity acknowledged with gratitude and happiness the Dronacharya Award for the National coach, Kenny Bosen. No one deserves this honour more than the soft-spoken, academically accomplished and dedicated Bosen. An authority in throws, javelin in particular, he has been on the scene for nearly four decades. The recognition for him had come at last.

Bosen himself was somewhat overwhelmed by the honour. ``I thought I would never get it,'' he said. The Tamil Nadu Amateur Athletics Association and the host unit presented a memento to him as also the Arjuna Award winners Gulab Chand and Gurmit Kaur.

Mr. Walter I. Dawaram, President, Tamil Nadu Amateur Athletics Association, inaugurated the meet.

The results:

Men: 100 metres (A): 1. Anil Kumar (Ser) 10.76s, 2. Thirugnanadorai (Rlys) 10.93s, 3. Sandeep Singh (Pun) 10.95; 100m (B): 1. Paramjit Singh (Pol) 11.05s, 2. Ramkumar (TN) 11.24s, 3. I. Rajesh (Rlys) 11.24; 800m: 1. K.M. Binu (Tisco) 1:55.71s, 2. Ram Murti (U.P.) 1:56.49, 3. Ajit Naik (Mah) 1:56.80; 3000m: 1. Gulab Chand (U.P.) 8:28.71s, 2. N. Gogen Singh (Pol) 8:32.11, 3. Sashi Prakash (Rlys) (8:36.95); Long jump: 1. Sanjay K. Rai (CRPF) 7.39m, 2. Bennett K. Raja (Rlys) 7.36, 3. Biju Joseph (Ker) 7.16; Shot put: 1. Shakti Singh (Rlys) 19.84m, 2. Bahadur Singh (Pol) 19.70, 3. Jaiveer Singh (Ser) 18.45; Discus: 1. Shakti Singh (Rlys) 55.62m, 2. Hridyanand Singh (Pol) 55.47, 3. Ajit Bhaduria (Pol) 54.34; Hammer: 1. Ishtiyaqye Ahmed (U.P.) 66.68m, 2. Pramod Tiwari (U.P.) 66.07, 3. Virendra Poonia (Rlys) 64.49; Javelin: 1. Satvir Singh (Pol) 76.74m, 2. Jagdish Bishnoi (Pol) 76.10, Ramandeep Singh (Pol) 74.81.

Women: 100 metres: 1. Rachita Mistry (Rlys) 11.70s, 2. Saraswati Dey (Rlys) 11.76, 3. Anuradha Biswal (Rlys) 12.12; 1500m: 1. Geeta Manral (CRPF) 4:42.30s, 2. Ramla Devi (Pol) 4:42.87, 3. Aruna Devi (Rlys) 4:43.74; Long jump: G.G. Pramila (Rlys), 6.19m, 2. Anju B. George (nee Markose) (Customs) 6.16, 3. Soma Biswas (Rlys) 6.00; Discus: 1. Neelam J. Singh (Rlys) 61.37m (New record), 2. Harijit Kaur (Pol) 53.88, 3. Seema Antil (Pol) 53.86; Javelin: 1. Gurmit Kaur (LIC) 46.28m, 2. Soma Biswas (Rlys) 41.43 3. Pushpavathi (Rlys) 40.28; Hammer: 1. Jebeshori Devi (Rlys) 57.86m (new record), 2. Surinderjit Kaur (Pol) 52.37, 3. Rajwinder Kaur (Pol) 49.43m.

Railways' Jebeshori Devi swinging the hammer to a new

National record.

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