The Athletic Federation of India’s (AFI) tall claims of the athletes making rapid progress in their respective events fell flat on its face during the second Domestic Athletic Meet at Patiala when top athletes, including big names like Ghanda Ram put up a pathetic show in their events.Four days ago, the top athletes who participated in the first domestic circuit meet, weren’t able to give a good account of themselves and the focus had shifted to the second edition. But the four hour long second edition too gave disappointment all around.The current performance, for example, of the top three women one-lap runners, were far below than the timings of their counterparts from the other leading Commonwealth countries including hosts Australia.Much was expected from the country’s leading 800m runner, Ghamanda Ram of Services. But he too left the crowd disappointed with his lackluster performance. Ram suffered his season’s first defeat at the hands of R. Rajeev of Railways.Going by their performances here, it is anybody’s guess as to how the top athletes would perform in the Federation Cup slated to be held at New Delhi from February 28.
