Indian team tops in World Railway meet

NEW DELHI, SEPT 11. Despite turning in below-par performances, the Indian Railway athletes managed to win the team title in the men's section, dethroning Russian Railways in the World Railway athletic championships held at Krakow, Poland, from September 3 to 7.

The Indian men's team collected seven golds, four silvers and four bronze medals to compile 153 points in the team championship. Sprinter C. Thirugnanadurai and long jumper Sanjay Kumar Rai bagged golden doubles, while K. J. Manojlal (400m) and K. M. Binu (800m) chipped in with a gold each. The shorter relay team also won the gold. Manojlal also took the bronze in the 100m, with 11.01s, that should provide the right picture about the opposition.

In the women's section, the Indian team finished second behind the Russian team (115 points) with 107 points. The six-member women's team bagged two gold medals, through K. M. Beenamol (400m) and Sugan Yadav (discus), four silvers and four bronze medals. Sugan also won the bronze in shot put.

In the women's section, Saraswati Dey's 11.87s for the silver in the 100m was somewhat closer to known potential. Beenamol's 53.00s for the gold in the 400m was nothing to talk about, though her 2:07.00 for the silver in the 800m, an event which she had been ignoring of late, was encouraging.

The other medal winners were: Men: Arun D' Souza (3000m steeplechase-silver 8:50.92), Vijay Pal (5000m- bronze 14:34.75), Bhairav Singh Lone (10,000m-bronze 30:33.92), Arumugam Pillai (high jump-silver-2.05m), Amarjit Singh (triple jump-silver 15.57m), Jagjit Singh (javelin-bronze 65.97), 4x100m relay team (Anand Menezes, Manojlal, Sanjay Kumar Rai and Thirugnanadurai) gold 42.10s.

Women: Saraswati Dey (200m-silver- 24.49s), V. Pandeeswari (100m- bronze 11.90s, 200m-bronze 24.52s), 4x100 and 4x400m relay (same team of Pramila, Pandeeswari, Beenamol and Saraswati Dey) silver each in 47.05s and 3:54.72.

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