Beenamol keeps Indian flag flying

For Beenamol, this was truly a night to remember. The 25-year-old, a member of the Atlanta Games relay team, produced a start-to-finish run to head off the challenge of Russia’s European indoor champion Olga Kotlyarova and the vastly experienced Michelle Collins of the United States. Her time? 51.51 seconds, not bad for a woman who has never raced in Europe and faced any of these athletes before.

After the race, the Railways employee appeared to be in a pleasant state of shock. "I just can’t believe it," she said. "I just decided to put my head down and run it as fast as I could." Asked whether she could go on to win the event, she replied: "Will I win the whole thing? I never expected to even get through the first round!"

However, in a scene straight out of Chariots of Fire, there could be one problem between Beenamol and the next rounds: She has to go to church on Sunday. However, just as things worked out well for Eric Liddell, one can hope that the Kerala lass goes on to bigger things.

Unfortunately, there will be few other Indians joining her. A large number fell by the wayside today, a list that makes depressing reading. In tennis, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi were beaten in straight sets by the Woodies and Nirupama Vaidyanathan and Manisha Malhotra blanked love and love by the Australian pair. In athletics, shot putters Shakti Singh and Bahadur Singh, javelin thrower Jagdish Bishnoi and star quarter-miler Paramjit Singh all made their exit from the competition with below-par shows.

In boxing, Jitender Kumar went down 3-12 to Adrian Diaconu of Romania in the middleweight (75 kg) class. And Imtiaz Anees finished at the bottom of the pool of 23 riders with a total of 236.60 penalty points in the three-stage equestrian event.