Date:16/11/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/11/16/stories/2006111603201900.htm

Sport - Athletics

Indian veterans dominate opening day

Principal Correspondent

INDOMITABLE SPIRIT: Veterans participating in the 5-km walk in the Asian Masters athletics in Bangalore. — Photo: G.P. Sampath Kumar

BANGALORE: Competitive zeal and enthusiasm marked the day's proceedings as the veterans, especially those above 60, vied for honours in the 14th Asian Masters athletics championship, which got underway at the Sree Kanteerava stadium here on Wednesday.

Japan's Hiroo Tanaka looked ready for another sprint even after winning the 100m gold in the men's 75 plus category in 14.4 seconds, so did Capt. C.K. Nayar, at the age of 92, despite finishing second best in the 90 plus 100m. Thailand's Jade Thongruang clocked 25.9 seconds to win the gold.

The Indian gold rush was spearheaded by sprinters Dinesh Rawat (35 plus) and Abhay Joshi (40 plus).

The results (winners only):

Men: 100m: 35 plus: Dinesh Rawat (Ind) 11.1s; 40 plus: Abhay Joshi (Ind) 11.6s; 45 plus: Mohd. Yusuf Ningal (Mas) 11.8s; 55 plus: L. Talagala (SL) 12.7s; 60 plus: Prabhakar Joglekar (Ind) 13.4s; 65 plus: Yoshioki Moriizumi (Jpn) 13.4s; 70 plus: Huang Yuan Te (Ch. Tpe) 14.3s; 75 plus: Hiroo Tanaka (Jpn) 14.4s; 80 plus: T. John Devasir (Ind) 16.9s; 85 plus: Ram Lal Sharma (Ind) 20.7s; 90 plus: Jade Thongruang (Tha) 25.9s.

5-km walk: 35 plus: Jayapal Kuppuswamy (Mas) 31:32.6s; 40 plus: Ram Kumar (Ind) 26:26.8s; 45 plus: S.S. Senasinghe (SL) 26:21.5s; 50 plus: Shamsher Singh (Ind) 25:51.0s; 55 plus: Krishna Rangaswamy (Sin) 29: 10.4s; 60 plus: Thomas Kok (Mas) 29:29.1s.

800m: 40 plus: T. Ajay Kumar (Ind) 2:09.9s; 45 plus: Niwat Oithip (Tha) 2:14.0s; 50 plus: Jodha Singh (Ind) 2:13.0s; 55 plus: Veerpal Singh (Ind) 2:17.9s; 60 plus: H.S. Pisal (Ind) 2:28.9s; 65 plus: Hideki Kanekiyo (Jpn) 2:37.6; 70 plus: Eiji Hirabayashi (Jpn) 3:01.1s; 75 plus: Hiroshi Matsuoka (Jpn) 3:04.0s; 80 plus: Soichi Tamoi (Jpn) 3:34.7s.

High jump: 40 plus: H.R. Nagesh (Ind) 1.65m; 45 plus: Renfei Hu (Chn) 1.60m; 50 plus: Dulal Dalpathadu (SL) 1.50m; 55 plus: Yuri Adamov (Kaz) 1.47m; 60 plus: G. Vijayarama Raju (Ind) 1.45m.

Women: 100m: 35 plus: Elma Posadas (Phi) 12.3s; 40 plus: Gumpil (Mas) 13.2s; 45 plus: Galiulina Zifa (Kaz) 14.3s; 50 plus: Somsanga Boonnok (Tha) 14.5s; 55 plus: K.G.G. Menike (SL) 14.5s; 60 plus: Junko Osada (Jpn) 15.6s; 65 plus: Itsuko Maeda (Jpn) 17.1s; 70 plus: Midori Yamamoto (Jpn) 16.2s; 75 plus: Bhopinder Kaur (Ind) 18.7s; 80 plus: Mariamma Varghese (Ind) 16.9s.