FUKUOKA, July 21: The weatherman was suprised and the local residents taken aback as torrential rains lashed the Northern part of Fukuoka around the Hisgashirao Park area where the Hakata-na-Mori Stadium is situated. With thunder and lightning accompanying rain, the organisers hastily announced the postponement of all field events to Wednesday morning, the last day of the 12th Asian Athletics Championships.That decision did not amuse the Indian camp, which was keenly following the fortunes of Neelam Singh, potential medallist in the women's discus throw. The event was midway through the third round and Neelam, leading the field with a second round throw of 56.34 metres, was getting ready for the third try when competition was halted. China's Xiao Yanling and Yu Xin were trailing the Indian girl. Yanling, whose best is 71.68m, had managed only 53.32 after a fouled first try, while Yu Xin, whose best is 63.30m, had touched 56.33cm, one centimetre short of Neelam, on her second attempt. India's second entry,Swaranjit Kaur, bronze medallist in 1995, was lying fourth with 50.21m.Lalit Bhanot, secretary of the Amateur Athletic Federation of India, lodged a protest with the Jury of Appeal saying the organisers did not wait long enough and took a hasty decision. Interestingly, the organisers allowed the heptathlon and the track events to continue and when the rain become really hard, they stopped and announced it would be held later and under floodlights, if necessary.
