The Hindu : Asian Grand Prix: spate of withdrawals likely

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 26, 2003

Sport

Sport - Athletics

Asian Grand Prix: spate of withdrawals likely

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD MAY 25. Despite the best efforts of the organisers of the Asian Grand Prix athletic championships, the SARS issue seems to have had its effect on the meet to be held here on May 28. When other international sports meets such as the World badminton championship scheduled to be held in Birmingham on May 12, and the South East Asian Grand Prix badminton scheduled to be held in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia in June have both been postponed, it would have been too much to expect that the Asian athletics GP series would remain entirely unaffected.

Thanks to the whole hearted efforts of the AAA, the AP State government and the local organisers including APAAA, the meet will be held as per schedule and all steps are being taken to conduct it in a smooth and successful manner. But due to circumstances beyond their control, there could be a spate of withdrawals, which in turn could hit the competitive edge of the proceedings.

One of the major results of the SARS effect has already been seen in the withdrawal of China from the meet. Last year a sprinkling of Chinese athletes gave a boost to the standard of the events conducted here and they had picked up four golds, one silver and one bronze medal. The gold medallists were Zhou Zhongge in men's high jump, Wang Yuan Ping in women's 800 metres, Ma Shuli in women's discus and Su Yiping in women's 100 metre hurdles. Lee Rongxiang, the highly rated javelin thrower won the silver and Song Aimin picked up a bronze in women's discus.

This time there are no Chinese and no Japanese taking part and the names of the participants from countries such as Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are not very notable ones. But given the prevailing situation the meet could turn out to be a boon for Indian athletes who can hope to pick up quite a few medals and also the prize money that has seen a substantial increase from what was offered last year.

Going by the list which has been released, it is only host India and Sri Lanka which have entered their big names for this meet. India has a huge list of 24 names in the men's section and 18 in the women's section. Most of India's top athletes are included in the list although there is some uncertainty regarding the participation of long jumper Anju B. George, an Asian Games gold medallist, and also discuss thrower Anil Kumar both of whom are training abroad.

But the others in the fray are capable of giving India a handful of medals especially if the field is depleted due to lack of top class foreign competition. There are a clutch of good sprinters such as Sanjay Ghosh (recently judged best athlete in a Services meet), Anil Kumar, Cliford Joshua and C.T. Durai who are entered in the 100 metres. In the 400 metres there is local hope P. Shankar, a National Games gold medallist, and Ghamanda Ram another National Games gold medallist has been entered in the 800 metres.

In the men's javelin throw, the experienced Jagdish Bishnoi has a good prospect and so also Harminder Singh and Ramandeep Singh. But the gold will be hard to get since last year's winner Sergey Voynov of Uzbekistan is likely to be in the fray.

In the women's events also India has a good chance thanks to the presence of experienced athletes such as Saraswati Saha and Poonam Tomar, both of whom picked up medals on the last occasion. K.M. Beenamol has been entered in the 400 as well as 800 metres and she will be the focus of attention from the Indian point of view. If Madhuri A. Singh runs in the two lap race, India could well have a chance for more than one medal in this race. Heptathletes J.J. Shobha and Soma Biswas are in the long jump along with Anju George and Jetty C. Jospeh and this event is apparently another good bet for India.

All in all, it should be a good show by the host country and what Indian fans have to hope for is that all will be clear as far as the drug tests are concerned as this aspect has hit the image of Indian athletics very badly in recent times.

The biggest name of the meet could be that of Sri Lankan sprint queen Susanthika Jayasinghe, an Olympic Games bronze medallist, if she does turn up finally. Susanthika's one time arch rival within Sri Lankan athletics, Damayanthi Darsha, is another athlete to watch out for. She will be going all out to defend her 400 metre and 100 metre golds that she won last year.

Sugath Tillekaratne, an accomplished runner with a formidable reputation, and Rohan Pradeep Kumara are good prospects in the quarter mile. The two of them had won silver and bronze respectively on the last occasion. Sriyani Kulawansa Fonseca is another familiar name in the list. She had won the bronze in the women's 100 metre hurdles last year.

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