Date:13/02/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/02/13/stories/2006021310431700.htm

Sport

Sinimol bags 1500m gold

BANGKOK: Sinimol Paulose won the solitary gold for India as she clinched the 1500 metres title in the Asian indoor athletics championships, which concluded at Pattaya on Sunday.

The 22-year-old Kerala girl out-kicked teammate O.P. Jaisha for a new meet record of 4:18.39. Jaisha took the silver in 4:18.50 while Kazakhstan's Svetlana Lukasehva, the Asian outdoor silver medalist at Incheon, was third in 4:19.50. The previous meet record was 4:29.43.

Sinimol had also won the silver in the 800 metres on the opening day here. Overall, India had a tally of one gold, three silver and four bronze medals, a replica of the country's medal haul at the inaugural Asian indoor meet in Teheran in 2004.

Pritam Bind added to India's kitty on the last day when he won the bronze medal in the men's 1500 metres, clocking 3:47.23. Dahame Najem Bashir of Qatar won the gold in 3:44.04, a new meet record (previous 3:55.73). India's C. Hamza was fourth in 3:47.26.

The Indian women's team took the bronze in the 4x400m relay event coming behind Kazakhstan (3:41.39) and Thailand (3:42.28). The foursome of Mridula K. Sinimol, Rupinder Kaur and C. Bhuvaneshwari timed 3:53.24. The lone thrower that India had entered her, Saurabh Vij, ended up fourth in men's shot put with a below-par 16.88 metres.

Meanwhile, Anju George, who could manage only the silver medal in the long jump event on Saturday, explained on Sunday that her poor indoor preparation had caused her to perform well below expectations. "The runway was at a height and the board was going up and down. I just couldn't get going", Anju said.