Sport - Athletics

Bibin bests Binu to claim the men’s 400m title

— Photo: M. Periasamy

CHAMPION: Railways’ Krishna Poonia readies to let fly the discus during her gold medal effort on Friday.

Coimbatore: Railways’ Bibin Mathews and Kerala’s M.A. Prajusha made the best use of the ideal weather conditions to record personals bests in the second leg of the Park Institutions Indian Grand Prix at the Nehru Stadium here on Friday.

Bibin, the 22-year-old ticket examiner, clearly looked the smoothest running machine in the packed 400m field.

The presence of comeback man and Olympian K.M. Binu of Kerala was at the back of his mind, but that actually did not trouble him. He enjoyed an early pick-up and held on to a narrow lead from gun to tape for a personal best of 46.47s.

“I knew the track was fast so I just concentrated on pushing myself hard. It worked well in my favour,” said a relieved Bibin after the race.

Binu was not disappointed. “It was the season’s first race for me, while Bibin had the advantage of a few extra races. I tried my best but did not get my body rhythm right. There is always another day. I look forward to Chennai, which is my lucky venue.”

With the absence of star jumpers like Anju Bobby George and Mayookha Johny, the women’s long lump virtually turned out to be a two-horse race between Prajusha and Reshmi Bose of Railways.

The former, who struck it rich in triple jump in the season’s opener at Kochi, jumped a personal best of 6.34m for the gold. Krishna Poonia, who celebrated her 27th birthday a couple of days ago, did not come anywhere close to her personal best of 63.41m, which came exactly a year ago in the Gary Shaw Big Throwers Classic in Salinas in the United States.

She aimed for the 59-60m mark and ended up throwing 58.95m in her second attempt for the women’s discus gold.

“I was really convinced with my effort today. I am sure I will further improve in the meets to come,” said Poonia.

The results:

Men: 200m: 1. Abdul Najeeb Qureshi (ONGC) 21.25s; 2. Vilas Neelgund (Rly) 21.57; 3. Ritesh Anand (Jharkhand) 21.64; 400m: 1. Bibin Mathew (Rly) 46.47s; 2. S. K. Mortaza (WB) 47.26; 3. K. M. Binu (Ker) 47.31.

1,500m: 1. C. Hamza (Ser) 3:45.34s; 2. Ghamanda Ram (ONGC) 3:49.35; 3. Ravinder (Rly) 3:50.81. 400m hurdles: 1. Joseph Abraham (Rly) 50.88s; 2. Kuldev Singh (Punjab Police) 51.43; 3. Avin A. Thomas (Rly) 51.90; High jump: 1. Jithen C. Thomas (Ser) 2.15m; 2. Hari Shankar Roy (Rly) 2.10; 3. Benedict Starley (TN) 2.10.

Shot put: 1. Satyender Singh (Rly) 18.20m; 2. Naveen Singh (Rly) 16.61; 3. Adi Aliffudin Hussain (Malaysia) 16; Discus: 1. Simranjit Singh (BSF) 54.07m; 2. Vikash Punia (Raj) 50.60; 3. Kripal Singh (Pun) 50.37.

Women: 200m: 1. H. M. Jyothi (AP) 24.13s; 2. Sharda Narain (Rly) 24.46; 3. K. Sowjanya (AP) 24.63; 400m: Tintu Luka (Ker) 54.81s; 2. K. Mridula (AP) 55.76; 3. Priyanka Panwar (Rly) 56.65.

1,500m: 1. Sushma Devi (Rly) 4:28.67s; 2. Priyanka Patel (Rly) 4:29.04; 3. S. R. Bindu (Rly) 4:29.30; Long jump: 1. M.A. Prajusha (Ker) 6.34m; 2. Resmi Bose (Rly) 6.28; Discus: 1. Krishna Poonia (Rly) 58.95m; 2. Seema Antil (CRPF) 55.35; 3. Harwant Kaur (Punjab Police) 54.01.

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