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Athletics
Hari Shankar, Benedict hog limelight
By S. Thyagarajan
CHENNAI, JULY 19. Even as one had reconciled to a prosaic progression of events on the second day of the Inter-State athletics meet two splendid competitors at the high jump pit raised the temperature at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Neither of them was attempting a place in the Olympics at Athens; but their determination to achieve something spectacular was transparent. And achieve they did by obliterating the national and the meet record in high jump.
The two contestants who put every ounce of their energy and effort to find a place in the record books were Hari Shankar Roy of West Bengal and Benedict Starly of Tamil Nadu. That both sailed past the meet record of 2.12m and also erased the national mark of 2.17m.by Chander Pal established at Bangalore in 1993 should be deemed as significant in an area that has remained stagnant for the last 11 years.
As many as four jumpers Annavi (1991), Vikas Sheoran (1995), Arumugam Pillai (2000) and Omveer Singh (2002 and 2003) were sharing the meet record of 2.12m.
Both Roy and Benedict pushed the other to limit of endurance, and eventually Roy it was who grabbed the gold 2.18m as Benedict Starly had more number of attempts in the earlier height of 2.14m. Starly managed to clear this height only in the third, while Roy finished the jump in the first try.
Hailing from Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, Shankar Roy had better jump in the state meet at 2.20m.This however cannot be ratified as a national mark. Today, Shankar Roy proved the State meet record was no flash in the pan. For the 18-year old, who took part in the last Afro-Asian Games and the World Junior championship in Canada, this was indeed a significant landmark of his career.
For the fast improving Benedict Starly, it was also a splendid milestone. A native of Tirunelveli, the 23-year old was waiting for a posting in Southern Railway. Benedict had a bad start in the first attempt at 2.08m but steadied himself as the bar was raised to 2.11. Shankar Roy started at 2.05m, missed the first try in 2.08m, but cleared 2.11m. 2.14m and 2.18m expertly in one attempt.
Another notable performance was that of L. Manjula of Karnataka in the gruelling 3000 steeplechase. Her time of 11.00.18s bettered the meet record of 11.05.90s held by her compatriot, B. Hemalatha set last year at Jamshedpur.
Priya shines
While Benedict Starly enhanced the mood of well being of the Tamil Nadu athletes who are putting up some very interesting performances, the tempo for this was set earlier by the graceful hurdling of K.N. Priya in 100 metres. Her time of 13.93s.was behind the national mark of 13.38s.by Anuradha Biswal. But Priya's effort put in on Monday signalled that the national mark can well be within her grasp shortly. It must be recalled that Priya had won a silver in the SAF Games in Islamabad.
In the women's 4 x 100 relay, Karnataka, which finished fifth was disqualified because of a baton exchange outside the zone on lane six. Kerala finished first followed by Tamil Nadu and Punjab. The Athletics Federation of India has decided to conduct a separate National championship in decathlon and heptathlon at Bangalore on August 5 and 6. The entries for this should reach AFI by August 2, according to a press release.
110m hurdles: 1.Gurpreet Singh (Punjab) (14.38s), 2.Ranjit Randhawa (Delhi) (14.42s), 3.Krishna Mohan (AP) (14.69s).
3000 steeplechase: 1.Arun D'Souza (AP) (8:50.71s), 2.R.V.Subba (Delhi) (9:10.63s), 3.Bhagwan Diwa Giri (UP) (9:13.23s).
High Jump: 1. Hari Shankar Roy (WB) (2.18m) (NR and Meet Record), 2.Benedict Starly (TN) (2.18 NR and Meet Record), 3. Vinod Kumar (Delhi) (2.11m).
Decathlon: 1. P.J. Vinod (Jhar) (7091 points), 2. Victor Jeba Singh (TN) (6872), 3. Chandrasekhar (TN) (6369).
20km walk: 1. Sita Ram (Raj) (1:33:33.17), 2.Gurmeet Singh (Punjab) (1:35:26.95s), 3.Anil Kumar (Har) (1:38:05.01).
4 x 100 relay: 1. Kerala (Rajesh, Girish, Jolly, Rateesh) (41.75s), 2. Delhi (41.76s), 3. Tamil Nadu (41.77s).
Women: 400m: 1. S. Geetha (AP) (52.51s), 2. Sagardeep Kaur (Punjab) (52.79s), 3. Pushpa Kumari (HP) (56.53s).
5000m: 1.Madhuri Gurnule (Maha) (17.01.22s), 2. Prija Sridharan (Ker) (17:37.53), 3. Jayanthi Negi (Delhi) (17:52.31s).
100 hurdles: 1. K.N. Priya (TN) (13.93s), 2. Ruta Patkar (Maha) (14.66s), 3. Semi Sebastian (Ker) (14.74s).
3000 steeplechase: 1. L. Manjula (Kar) (11.00.18s) (meet record), 2. B.L. Barathi (Kar) (11.23.09s), 3. Jaswinder Kaur (Punjab) (12.08.09s).
Long Jump: 1. Ruta Patkar (Maha) (6.16m), 2. K. Revathy (TN) (5.81m), 3. Noosheen Rajendran (Delhi) (5.80m).
Discus throw: 1. Krishna Punia (Har) (57.19m), 2. Saroj Sihag (Har) (53.50m), 3. Baljeet Kaur (Punjab) (42.76m).
Hammer throw: 1. Hardeep Kaur (Punjab) (56.85 m), 2. Rajwinder Kaur (Punjab) (52.07m), 3. Rakhe Gaud (Maha) (47.42m).
4 x 100 relay: 1. Kerala (Dhanya Purushothaman, Sunita Varghese, Shini Rajan, V.D. Shijila), (47.43s), 2. Tamil Nadu (48.35s), 3. Punjab (48.94s).
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