Tamil Nadu wins overall title

By Our Sports Reporter

BANGALORE, JAN. 20. Oh, for a trouble free sport ! Well that was what one wished at the conclusion of the 16th Junior National athletics championship at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Saturday.

The trouble broke out when the National Anthem was being played. Kerala contingent obviously peeved at being pipped for the overall team championship by a two points by Tamil Nadu vented its anger by marching onto the dias and shouting slogans at the AAFI secretary general, Dr. Lalit Bhanot, and the officials of the host association.

A debarred Punjab athlete, victim of AAFI's strictures on the overage issue, turned the protest into a gory affair by hurling soft drink bottles. The volunteers of the Karnataka Amateur Athletic Association (KAAA) took the athlete to task and the bleeding athlete was then hauled up by the police who arrived on the scene.

Kerala which clearly dominated the four-day competition was understandably disappointed. But showing disrespect to the National Anthem and then taking law into their hands, destroying the flower vases and glass top tables, was unbecoming of a team that had impressed with its performances on the field. Kerala Athletic Association secretary Mr. Paul and the coaches were mute witnesses to the sorry turn of events.

Tamil Nadu, champions with 374 points, celebrated the triumph while Kerala, with better sense prevailing, turned despondent and withdrew to the far corner of the stadium.

Kerala's loss was more pronounced in the under-18 section. Karnataka was adjudged the champions in this category with 158 points while Tamil Nadu edged past Kerala for the under- 20 championship title with 158 points. The under-16 team honours went to Haryana with 65 points.

Chitra K. Soman of Kerala who sprinted to three individual gold in the girls under-18 section-100m, 200m and the 400m besides anchoring both the Kerala relay teams (4x100m and the 4x400) to triumph, was easily the best athlete of the championship.

AAFI ban on 25 athletes: Dr. Lalit Bhanot came down strictly on the overage menace that has plagued the age group championship for many years. While 13 athletes voluntarily accepted to being over-aged, 25 others were slapped with a one year ban after medical examination. The athletes however get a 30-day time span to prove their innocence and challenge the ban.

Debarred athletes: Vishal Singh Sodi (J&K), Harpreet Singh, Pushpinder Singh, Amardeep Singh, Gursevak Singh, Harpal Singh (all from Punjab), Jagmander (Chandigarh), Satish Kumar (Delhi), Upendra Singh (Rajasthan), Tippu Hembram (Orissa), Rampal, Jagmohan Singh and Pratap Rathwa (Gujarat), K. Satishweran, M. Palani Kumar, Hamsu, Vinod (all TN), Aruna Mishra and Pradeep (AAFI-Jharkand), Barmeshwar Nath, Gajannan Kumar Upadhya, Aishwarya (all Bihar), Anto Jose and Nikhil (both Kerala).

The athletes who owned up being over-aged are: Pravin Kumar (Haryana), Amandeep Singh, Mansoor Ali, Birbahadur Singh (all Bihar), Prempal (Punjab), Tejinder Pandey (AAFI-J), Rakesh Sharma and Lokesh Fouzdar (Rajasthan), Pawan Kumar and Vinay K.V Singh (both MP), Amit Kumar (UP), Ram Pal and Jagmohan Singh (Gujarat).

lThe results: boys (under-20): 100m: 1. Arpit Decruz (Guj) 10.95s, 2. Vikas Parashar (Punj) 10.97s, 3. J.I. Ayyappan (TN) 11.03s; 5000m: 1. Shamdev Mahato (AAFI-J), 15:56.59s, 2. C.D. Basavaraj (Kar) 16:01.26s, 3. Suresh Kumar (UP) 16:11.50s; High jump: 1. Omveer Singh (Raj) 2.12m (NMR, Old: 2.07m K.R. Roshan (Ker)), 2. S.S. Aswas (Ker) 1.99m, 3. Illyas Bamania (Bih) 1.96m; Hammer throw: 1. Laiq Ahmed (UP) 61.59m (NMR, Old: 59.22m Satish Suhag (Har)), 2. Rakesh Kumar Jha (AFFI-J) 45.36m, 3. S.K. Mishra (AFFI-J) 42.12m; 4x400m relay: 1. Kerala 3:15.44s, 2. Tamil Nadu 3:16.89s, 3. Andhra Pradesh 3:19.98s.

Under-18: 100m: 1. Sanjay Kumar Mishra (Bih) 10.96s (NMR, Old: 10.99s S.S Sreenath (Ker)), 2. Shashidhar (Kar) 10.99s, 3. Alex Anthony Raj (TN) 11.21s; 110m hurdles: 1. Navmid Singh (Punj) 14.79s (NMR, Old: 14.88s Kamal Roy Choudhary (Mah)), 2. Vasanta Badasahi (Guj) 15.27s, 3. Kiran Prasad (Ker) 15.32s; Triple-jump: 1. Lakshmi Narayan (TN) 14.70m, 2. N Vinod Kumar (TN) 14.58m, 3. Mansukh B Tavethiya (Guj) 14.46m; Shot-put: 1. R. Karthik (TN) 14.50m, 2. L. Venkateswar Rao (AP) 14.29m, 3. Chetan Mishra (UP) 13.01m; 4x400m relay: 1. Kerala 3:18.51s (NMR, Old: 3:23.42s Kerala), 2. Andhra Pradesh 3:19.57s, 3. Orissa 3:20.97s.

Under-16: 100m: 1. Surendra Singh (Har) 11.24s (NMR, Old: 11.30s Arshad Hussain (AP)), 2. Jitendra Bahadur Singh (UP) 11.43s, 3. V. Satish (AP) 11.53s; 5000m walk: 1. Balvinder Singh (Punj) 23:31.5s, 2. Manoj (Har) 23:35.2s, 3. Neeraj Gaur (UP) 23:58.9s; Long jump: 1. K.J. Clinton (Ker) 6.96m (NMR, Old: 6.86m M Udiyar (TN)), 2. Jitender Bahadur Singh (UP) 6.56m, 3. A. Sedupathi (Pondy) 6.50m; Discus throw: 1. Ankush Punia (UP) 59.30m (NMR, Old: 58.76m Akash (Raj)), 2. Narender (Har) 57.94m, 3. Jiginsh G Patil (Bih) 55.34m; Pentathlon: 1. V. Shankar (AP) 3736pts, 2. Moonchangmani (Asm) 3704pts, 3. S Krishnam Raju (AP) 3506pts.

Girls (under-20): 100m: 1. K.M. Greeshma (Ker) 12.31s, 2. N Lalitha (AP) 12.51s, 3. K. Shwetha (TN) 12.71s; Long-jump: 1. Deep Mala (Punj) 5.68m, 2. Vijay Lakshmi (UP) 5.66m, 3. Smita Francis (Ker) 5.44m; Javelin: 1. Suman Devi (UP) 44.99m (NMR, Old: 41.76m Gurpreet Kaur (Har)), 2. Gurpreet Kaur (Har) 44.29m, 3. Sheen Samuel (Ker) 42.23m; 4x400m relay: 1. Tamil Nadu 3:50.64s (NMR, Old: 3:53.3s Kerala), 2. Kerala 3:54.60s, 3. Karnataka 3:57.13s; 3000m: 1. L.G. Narsinganavar (Kar) 10:16.00s, 2. L. Manjula (Kar) 10:16.2s, 3. B. Nagamani (AP) 10:18.00s; Hammer throw: 1. Archana Bara (Bih) 45.49m, 2. Ritu Rani (Del) 45.24m, 3. Supinder Pal Kaur (Punj) 44.29m.

Under-18: 100m: 1. Chitra K. Soman (Ker) 12.10s (NMR, Old: 12.83s S Geetha (AP)), 2. H. Jyothi (Kar) 12.14s, 3. K.N. Priya (TN) 12.25s; High jump: 1. J.R. Divya Shree (Ker) 1.63m, 2. Sushmita Singh Roy (WB) 6.63m, 3. Manju Paulose (Ker) 1.56m; Long jump: 1. Ruta Patkar (Maha) 6.10m (NMR, Old: 5.81m Jetty Joseph (Ker)), 2. Pampa Mahapatra (WB) 5.66m, 3. Sachitha Monappa (Kar) 5.58m; Hammer throw: 1. C.H. Sushila Devi (Manipur) 42.10m, 2. Amandeep Kaur (Punj) 39.42m, 3. Archana Chaudhary (UP) 36.17m; 3000m: 1. Ashwini Dukandar (Maha) 10:50.66s, 2. N.V. Ashwini (Kar) 11:01.82s, 3. P.S. Renju (Ker) 11:15.79s.

Under-16: 100m: 1. Kavita Mani Sreedharan (Ker) 12.30s (NMR, Old: 12.6s Manasi Ketkar (Maha)), 2. V.D. Shilija (Ker) 12.51s, 3. Ranjit Roy (WB) 12.59s; 3000m walk: 1. S. Pavani (AP) 15:12.00s (NMR, Old: 15:26.58s D. Devi (Manipur)), 2. K. Mikhumbi Devi (Manipur) 15:12.4s; 3. Megha Ingle (Maha) 16:11.8s; Javelin throw: 1. Sonu (Har) 35.80m (NMR, Old: 34.04m Sumana Devi (UP)), 2. Stephy Peter (Ker) 29.20m, 3. Shikha Patra (WB) 27.23m; Pentathlon: 1. M. Sangeetha (TN) 2850pts (NMR, Old: 2697pts Manju Paulose Kerala), 2. T. Bindu (TN) 2713pts, 3. Geetanjali Borah (Asm) 2339pts.

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