Date:28/10/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/10/28/stories/2006102810431800.htm

Sport - Athletics

Athletics medal winners felicitated

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Athletic Association felicitated the State team that won the overall championship for the first time in the third National Youth (under 18) championship, held at Warangal recently, at the Nehru stadium here on Friday. The Tamil Nadu girls claimed the team championship with 100 points and the State team bagged the overall title with 147 points.

Tamil Nadu won seven gold, seven silver and eight bronze medals.

"Kerala was the overall winner in the first two editions. But this time our team did well to capture the top honours. In fact, 2006 is the most successful year for the State as it clinched the overall title in the Federation Cup senior championship and in the South Zone junior event. It also did well by winning most of the events in the inter-Zone championship. Now the team has captured the National Youth title. The juniors are particularly doing well and we have to maintain this tempo," said W.I. Davaram, President, TNAA.

R. Arumugam, IPS, President, Chennai DAA, said that the coaches and the private clubs should be thanked for this excellent performance. It was a great honour for the State, he pointed out. C. Neelasivalingaswamy, Secretary, TNAA, welcomed the gathering and thanked the leading clubs such as Prime Sports, Universal Sports Foundation, run by Rajasekharan, and Erode Lions Club Academy, for their major contribution in the team's success.

The medal winners: Gold: G. Nagalakshmi (100 m, long jump), V. Rupadevi (800 m), G. Gayathri (100 m hurdles), P. Petchiammal (heptathlon), D. Suresh Babu (100 m), 4 X 100 m relay (boys); Silver: S. Radhika (long jump), Anitha Shree (heptathlon); 4 X 100 m and 4 X 400 m relay (girls), L. Rajiv Gandhi (110 m hurdles), R. Manikandan (long jump), 4 X 400 m (boys); Bronze: S. Sujitha (400 m), Abirami (400 m), Abitha Clara Antony (high jump), S. Pavithra Swapna (triple jump), Muthuselvi (heptathlon), S.S. Ajith (200 m), J. Prem Anand (400 m), C. Mohana Chandran (triple jump).