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Journalism of Courage
CALCUTTA, Nov 17: Usha, who had complained that her relatively poor performance in women8217;s 100m was due to the sudden change in schedule, today fell on the track about 20m away from the finish-line in 200m. She had a lead of about 10m at that stage and was running really well. 8220;I felt a catch in my right hamstrings at the second bend,8221; Usha explained. 8220;Even then, I kept on running. A little later the problem increased and I had to stop to avoid further injury.8221;
Usha suddenly staggered in front of the VIP podium before collapsing on her lane. However, she was able walk out of the stadium without any visible limp, bellying fears of a serious injury. Doctors who attended on her immediately after the mishap, confirmed that it was minor thing and India8217;s golden girl in athletics should recover in a few days.
The last day of the meet saw three new meet records being created in 4x400m men8217;s relay, women8217;s 10km walk and women8217;s high jump. Bobby Alosyous of Tamil Nadu equalled her Open nationals performance of 1.81m in the women8217;s high jump for a new meet record. The earlier one of 1.80m also stood in her name.
The AAFI men8217;s relay team of Lijjo David Thottan, P Ramachandran, Dinesh Rawat and Jata Shankar almost ran alone to create a new meet mark of 3:06.02s. The same team without Rawat and with Paramjit Singh running the anchoring had created a national record in the Open Nationals.
The third record of the day was set by Paramjit Kaur of Punjab in women8217;s 10km walk. Paramjit clocked 52:39.0s as against the earlier mark of 53:54.5 by Asha Sebestian in 1995.
The 1500m for women was perhaps the most interesting race of the day besides the women8217;s 200m, with Sunit Rani leading Jyotirmoyee Sikdar for the initial 1200 metres. Rani in fact, setthe pace with Sikdar following very close. With about 300 metres remaining, the Bengal girl produced her burst and ran away an easy winner with a timing of 4:13.60s, well within the AAFI target of 4:15.00s. Rani took the silver with 4:16.81s.
National record holder in men8217;s javelin Satbir Singh, who was involved in a small accident just before his event in the Open Nationals, is yet to recover and skipped the event at the Inter-state meet too.
Results all finals
Men8217;s 200m: 1 Kishan Kar 21.79s; 2 Ajay Raj Singh Pun 22.00; 3 Jyoti Prakash Ker 22.38. 800m: 1 Jayan Kurian Ker 1:53.08 min; 2 Nagesh Shetty Mah 1:53.66; 3 Ajit Nayak Mah 1:53.85. 5000m: 1 Satish Kumar Har 14:48.37 min; 2 Anil Kumar Bih 14:54.35; 3 Shivanand Kar 15:19.98. 110m hurdles: 1 Sahib Singh Pun 14.19s; 2 Ranjit Randhawa Del 14.50; 3 Jangjit Singh Pun 14.67. 4x400m: 1 AAFI 3:06.02 min; 2 Kerala 3:18.18; Tamil Nadu 3:18.82. Triple jump: 1 Robert Bobby Jorge Bih 15.50m; 2 Diego Braganza Guj 15.43; 3 IRajesh TN 15.33. Javelin: 1. Ramandeep Singh Pun 75.14m; 2 Jagdish Vishnoi Pun 74.96; 3 Brahma Dube Mah 70.32. Decathlon: 1 Gamdhor Singh Pun 6207 pts; 2 Pradeep Alok Guj 6147; 3 Phullel Singh Pun 6099.
Women8217;s 200m:1 G Vasanthi Del 24.67s; 2 Poonam Belliappa Kar 25.10; 3 R Sukumari Ker 25.22. 1500m:
1 Jyotirmoyee Sikdar WB 4:13.60 min; 2 Sunita Rani Pun 4:16.81; 3 Madhuri Gurnule Mah 4:41.25. 4x400m: 1 West Bengal 3:46.02 min; 2 Kerala 3:50.21; 3 Tamil Nadu 3:58.05. High jump: 1 Bobby Alosyous TN 1.81m; 2 Jayanti TN 1.73; 3 Lucy Deshmukh WB 1.60. 10km walk:1 Paramjit Kaur Pun 52:39.0 min; 2 Rajdeep Kaur Pun 57:19.9; 3 Rupa Bhowmick WB 57:47.1.
