Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 26, 2002

About Us
Contact Us
Sport
News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Sport - Athletics Printer Friendly Page   Send this Article to a Friend

Kerala regains title amid controversial circumstances

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Aug. 25. The host Kerala won a close battle against Tamil Nadu and regained the overall championship as the 14th Air Tel-South Zone junior athletics meet concluded at the Agriculture College ground, Vellayani, on Sunday.

However, much of the glitter behind the home team's success was lost when the entire Tamil Nadu contingent staged a walk out from the prize distribution ceremony, alleging irregularities in awarding of points in at least two events.

The Tamil Nadu protest was based on two instances: the failure of the recorders to award Tamil Nadu its due share of points in the girls' under-20 triple jump wherein its entrant V.S. Sureka had finished fourth and the decision of the organisers to recognise the boys' under- 20 pole vault as a medal event despite the competition attracting only two entries.

The original entries from Tamil Nadu for the triple jump event were from K.N. Priya and Anju Kumari. And due to the absence of Anju, Sureka was rushed in to compete only after the event had got underway with the sanction of the organising secretary but without proper notice to the recorders.

Sources said this was the base for all the flutter as the computer programme used by the recorders had rejected Sureka's name when the results were keyed in. The proceedings by then had got over and Kerala at that stage had a clear lead of five points over Tamil Nadu.

But, acting positively on the protest lodged by the Tamil Nadu contingent, the AAFI Technical Delegate, M.J. Viswanath, asked for the addition of three more points to Tamil Nadu which brought down Kerala's lead to just two points (711.50 points against 709.50 points tallied by its rival).

It was at this stage that the Tamil Nadu contingent pointed out the `erroneous' inclusion of the results of the boys' under-20 pole vault in the points table and asked for its exclusion.

The delay on the part of the Technical Delegate to come out with a decision against their second demand infuriated the Tamil Nadu officials who were quick to point out that the same event in the absence of three competitors was deemed only as a trial in Bangalore last year.

Finally, the sordid drama came to an end only after Mr. Viswanath got in touch with the AIFF secretariat in New Delhi over telephone and was told to include the pole vault results in the compilation of the points table, since the event had been already held. Kerala, eventually, was declared the overall champion and Tamil Nadu second, ahead of Andhra Pradesh, which had a tally of 511 points.

While the whole controversy left a bad taste, there were 15 new meet records that the hectic final day produced. Kerala, besides the overall championship, also claimed the girls' team honours, while Tamil Nadu took the top spot in the boys' section.

The results (all finals):

Boys: Under-20: 200m: 1. Vilas Neelagund (Kar), 2. R.B. Venkateshwaran (TN), 3. M.R. Suresh (TN), 21.9s New Meet Record (Old record - 22.0s, Oommen Thomas (Ker), 1994). 800m: 1. T. Maleppa (Kar), 2. T. David Raj (TN), 3. M.O. Arun Mohan (Ker), 1:57.0. 5,000m: 1. P. Gopi (TN), 2. S. Karippa Talawar (Kar), 2. M. Venkatmallu (AP), 15:55.5. 400m hurdles: 1. P. Shankar (AP), 2. S. Kiran Prasad (Ker), 3. Siva Sundarapandian (TN), 54.50s. Triple jump: 1. S. Gilbert (TN), 2. S. Vincent Vimalraj (TN), 3. K.A. Askar (Ker), 14.50m. Pole vault: 1. Jineesh Kappan (Ker), 2. Sathiya Moorthy (TN), 3.30m. Discus throw: 1. L. Venkateswar Rao (AP), 2. Rajesh (AP), 3. F. Shabeeb Rahman (TN), 40.09m. Hammer throw: 1. Mohd. Intiaz Basha (AP), 2. S. Raghu (TN), 3. K.P. Prajeesh (Ker), 48.26m. 3,000m steeplechase: 1. N. Raghunath (Kar), 2. K. Chelladurai (TN), 3. V. Vivek Kumar (TN), 9:43.7. 10km walk: 1. K. Sree Ram (AP), 2. P.S. Jalan (Ker), 3. S. Venkatesan (TN), 46:40.9 - NMR; (OR - 49:40.1, K. Rajesh Kumar (AP), 1996). Decathlon: 1. Chandra Sekhar (TN), 2. Don John (Ker), 3. S.K. Samender Vali (AP), 5472 points. 4 x 400m relay: 1. Andhra Pradesh, 2. Kerala, 3. Tamil Nadu, 3:23.0.

Under-18: 200m: 1. Mohd. Muddassir (Kar), 2. R. Srikanth (AP), 3. V. Satish (AP), 22.5s. 800m: 1. K. Appa Rao (AP), 2. R. Bangaraiah (AP), 3. K.S. Vijayaraj (Ker), 1:56.5. 5,000m: 1. A. Raja (AP), 2. M. Balakrishnan (TN), 3. Y.R. Darshan (Kar), 16:12.2. Triple jump: 1. K.I. Naveen (Ker), 2. S. Krishnam Raju (AP), 3. M. Ranjeeth (Kar), 15.12m - NMR; (OR - 14.80m, Lakshminarayanan (TN), 2000). Pole vault: 1. K.P. Bimin (Ker), 2. N. Assad Mohammed (TN), 3. Samsher Singh (AP), 4.05m - NMR; (OR - 3.60m, Sijo Sebastian (Ker), 2000). Discus throw: 1. K.N. Shiva Subramaniam (TN), 2. Mohd. Shafiullah (AP), 3. Razeen (TN), 40.50m. Hammer throw: 1. K. Satishwaran (TN), 2. R. Praveen Kumar (TN), 3. Abhilash Joseph (Ker), 54.45m - NMR; (OR - 46.10m, Melvin P. Jose (Ker), 2000). 2,000m steeplechase: 1. Y.R. Darshan (Kar), 2. S. Ajay Kumar (AP), 3. N. Mohammed Kani (TN), 6:19.5. 10 km walk: 1. Abin Joy (Ker), 2. S. Jameel Ahmed (AP), 3. Santosh Reddy (AP), 54:26.9. Heptathlon: 1. K. Shankar (TN), 2. B. Srinivas (AP), 3. S. Moovendran (TN), 5599 points. 4 x 400m relay: 1. Andhra Pradesh (K. Appa Rao, V. Edukondalu, R. Bangaraiah, R. Srikanth), 2. Kerala, 3. Tamil Nadu, 3:23.3 - NMR; (OR - 3:23.7, Kerala, 1996).

Under-16: 800m: 1. P. Trinath (AP), 2. Shivanagaraju (AP), 3. P.K. Allappa (Kar), 2:00.2. 2,000m: 1. P. Trinath (AP), 2. Riyaaz Saad (Kar), 3. Vidya Sagar (AP), 5:43.2 - NMR; (OR - 5:48.8, Loknath M. Lamani (Kar), 2001). Discus throw: 1. T. Ranjith (AP), 2. N. Sathish Kumar (TN), 3. Ubed-ur-Rahman (AP), 41.88m. Hammer throw: 1. Eldose Uthup (Ker), 2. M. Somaiah (AP), 3. Sajid Rahman (Ker), 41.32m. 5km walk: 1. R. Vineesh (Ker), 2. B. Sathyanarayana (AP), 3. B. Srikanth Reddy (AP), 26:45.5. Pentathlon: 1. L. Selvalraj (TN), 2. J.F. Freji Jose (Ker), 3. V. Veeraraghaviah (AP), 3,987 points.

Under-14: Triathlon: 1. A. Sujadeen (TN), 2. Vivek Krishnan Kutty (Ker), 3. G.N. Boppanna (Kar), 2,353 points.

Girls: Under-20: 200m: 1. K.N. Priya (TN), 2. G.D. Gowramma (Kar), 3. P.S. Ganamol (Ker), 25.6s. 800m: 1. Sinimol Paulose (Ker), 2. Venkat Laxmi (AP), 3. Soumya Thomas (Ker), 2:14.5. 5,000m: 1. S. Ramya (TN), 2. P.R. Renju (Ker), 3. Linu P. Simon (Ker), 19:14.1. 400m hurdles: 1. K.J. Vijila (Ker), 2. Vijayalakshmi (Kar), 3. D. Keerthana (TN), 1:04.5. High jump: 1. P. Mohana Priya (TN), 2. Manju Paulose (Ker), 3. M. Binutha (Ker), 1.63m. Triple jump: 1. V.S. Libiya (Ker), 2. Tincy Philip (Ker), 3. K.N. Priya (TN), 12.31m. Pole vault: 1. V.S. Sureka (TN), 2. Priyanka Jose (Ker), 3. Uthara K. Satheesh (Ker), 2.60m - NMR; (OR - 2.50m, B.S. Preethi (Kar), 2001). Hammer throw: 1. K.B. Sharmila Urs (Kar), 2. Sonia John (Ker), 3. D.V. Kavitha (TN), 36.53m. 10km walk: 1. S. Pavani (AP), 2. Saraswathi (AP), 3. Dhanya C. Mohan (Ker), 51:46.5 - NMR; (OR - 57:01.6, S. Pavani (AP), 2001). Heptathlon: 1. Manju Paulose (Ker), 2. B. Prameena (TN), 3. Salamma Antony (Ker), 4343 points. 4 x 400m relay: 1. Kerala, 2. Andhra Pradesh, 3. Tamil Nadu, 3:59.5s.

Under-18: 200m: 1. K. Aruna Kumari (AP), 2. Iyleen Samantha (AP), 3. K.S. Vanitha Devi (TN), 24.8s - NMR; (OR - 25.0s, Vyjayanthimala (Kar), 1993). 800m: 1. Sherin Thomas (Ker), 2. H.S. Greeshma (Kar), 3. T. Bindu (TN), 2:22.3. 3,000m: 1. K. Gauthami (AP), 2. Jyoti Kolekar (Kar), 3. B.S. Veena (Kar), 10:58.8. High jump: 1. M. Sangeetha (TN), 2. S. Chitra (Ker), 3. Bincy Joseph (Ker), 1.60m. Triple jump: 1. K. Revathy (TN), 3. C.S. Deepa Mary (Ker), 3. S. Chinna (AP), 12.55m - NMR; (OR - 12.30m, V.S. Libiya (Ker), 2001). Discus throw: 1. Arpitha Rai (Kar), 2. Pooja Merita Jose (TN), 3. G. Srikrithi (AP), 34.56m. Javelin throw: 1. S. Saraswathy (TN), 2. B. Kavitha (Kar), 3. Y.V. Sacitha (Kar), 36.02m. Hammer throw: 1. Pooja Merita Jose (TN), 2. Reshma Jabbar (Ker), 3. Arpitha Rai (Kar), 29.40m. 5km walk: 1. C.A. Manjusha (Ker), 2. Surya Mathew (Ker), 3. M. Manjula (TN), 27:47.0 - NMR; (OR - 28:05.8, V. Saraswathi (AP), 2001). Heptathlon: 1. K. Revathy (TN), 2. A. Amudha (TN), 3. Seena Joy (Ker), 3337 points. 4 x 400m relay: 1. Tamil Nadu, 2. Kerala, 3. Andhra Pradesh, 4:03.5.

Under-16: 800m: 1. Dona Thomas (Ker), 2. R. Mahalakshmi (Kar), 3. Remyamol Devasia (Ker), 2:24.9. 2,000m: 1. S.R. Bindu (Ker), 2. T.D. Sowmya (Kar), 3. R. Ashwini (Kar), 6:39.0 - NMR; (OR - 6:51.1, B.L. Bharathi (Kar), 1998). High jump: 1. P. Divya Priya (TN), 2. Lindamol M. Rajan (Ker), 3. Kavya Muthanna (Kar), 1.55m. Shot put: 1. S.G. Greeshma (Ker), 2. Anicham (TN), 3. V. Sushma (AP), 10.35m. 3km walk: 1. Jomol Joseph (Ker), 2. S. Varalaxmi (AP), 3. Silby Sabu (Ker), 15:18.7 - NMR; (OR - 15:50.4, S. Pavani (AP), 2000). Pentathlon: 1. Remyamol Devasia (Ker), 2. K. Saranya (TN), 3. Y.K. Minty (Kar), 2,357 points.

Under-14: Triathlon: 1. Jeena Monisha (TN), 2. Liksmy Joseph (Ker), 3. N.R. Niharika (Kar), 1749 points - NMR; (OR - 1303 points, Bhavy Urs (Kar), 2001).

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription
Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | Home |

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu