India146;s baton charge

This was the basket that India had placed all their athletics eggs in. It was a tricky situation...

This was the basket that India had placed all their athletics eggs in. It was a tricky situation, but the 1600km women8217;s relay was what kept Indian hopes alive till today. And the quartet did not disappoint. A race thoroughly energised and anchored brilliantly by Pinki Pramanik and then taken into sublime levels by Chitra Soman, India won gold, the only one in athletics here, at 3: 32.95. In their wake lay the ruins of a strong Kazakhstan 3:33.86 and China 3:33.92.

The fact that the Indian men followed up with a silver in their 1600m relay, lay in the backwaters of the Khalifa Stadium this evening. So did Sinimole Paulose8217;s bronze in the women8217;s 1500m.

It was a race right from a dream. The team comprised of all the Indian stalwarts who reached the final at the Athens Games except for KM Beenamol who has taken a sabbatical after childbirth, started off the blocks in a storm. The Chinese were leading, but Sati Geetha tried her best to keep pace, threatened as she was by Kazakhstan8217;s Marina Maslyonko. It was a decent run, but when the baton went to Pinki, it was all-out war.

Pinki took off in a blast, crossed the Kazakh pretender in Viktoriya Yalovtseva, the girl Santhi Soundarajan pipped the other day in the women8217;s 800m for silver, and by the time Chirta Soman was ready to take over the baton, she was with China8217;s Xiaoxiao Huang. It took Chitra that much to get ahead of the rest. India were out in the clear, in the lead, and the experienced Manjeet Kaur would not let this opportunity go by at any cost.

The distance to the tape seemed endless, but for Manjeet it was another challenge, after failing yesterday with a thigh problem. The competition fell away, the hurdles finally crumbled.

It was something Pinki may have been dreaming of again, when she closed her eyes as the tri-colour went up for the first time in athletics. 8220;It was a run that we had planned and planned,8221; said Pinki later. 8220;It was a moment I have been dreaming about, it is here now. I am in tears and happy.8221;

For Chitra Soman it is yet another stepping stone to a bigger goal. 8220;Now I know that careful planning can take you to your goal. I look forward to the Beijing Olympics now, and our preparation starts immediately.8221; For the moment, though, it is a place on Cloud Nine.

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The men followed up with a brave effort just a little later, Joseph Abraham taking over from Abo Backer Thanikkal being the key. Bhupinder Singh looked a trifle easy on the pace before Binu K Mathew shot off in long strides, right into the top medal zone. India finished at 3:06.65, sniffing gold, won by Saudi Arabia at 3:05.31. Sri Lankans came in third at 3:06.97.

The women8217;s 400m relay was a no-show, almost, India finishing fifth 46.29 despite clocking the season8217;s best. The race was won in a fast time of 44.33 by China.

Paulose made a valiant attempt at chasing the dream in the 1500m, but she was short on endurance and energy. That she made up with her sheer determination, finishing at 4: 15.09, behind Bahrain8217;s super runner Maryam Yusuf Jamal 4:08.63 and Japan8217;s Yuriko Kobayashi 4:14.96 told her courage. India had won gold in this event from Busan Sunita Rani and Bangkok Jyotirmoyee Sikdar.