Manipur, new overall champs

In all 15 national records were created and 79 Meet records bettered. Of course, Jaspal Rana8217;s 591 out of 600 in centre fire pistol would have been the only world record had the Khuman Lampak Shooting Range been certified by the UIT.

Huge crowds in different venues apart, these Games have been a bit lacklustre as far as performances are concerned. No new records were created in swimmingand athletics was plagued by the lack of a few top level competitors. Jyotirmoyee Sikdar and Bahadur Prasad both turned up but did not participate.

And, midway through the Games, rumours of dysentry and misbehaviour spoilt the spirit. The dysentery fear turned out to be false as about 300 players were found to have suffered from stomach ailments. Most of them were minor cases and only a few required full course treatment.

However, many of the athletes were of the opinion that this was the wrong time to hold the Games. 8220;The water is freezing,8221; Nisha Millet said explaining the reasons for poor timings in the pool.

Meanwhile, it was not really a spectacular close to the Games. Apart from the firework display, the packed house had to wait for a long time for the skydivers to perform. However, when they did land on the centre of the field with their coloured parachutes, the stands applauded. Such a display is not very common in Imphal and the crowd really felt that it was worth the wait.Manipur, whichcould gather only 156 points in the last Games through a medal haul of 15 golds, 10 silvers and 17 bronzes in 1997 excelled in Taekwondo, Cycling, Triatholon, Sepak Takrow Fencing, Judo and Gymnasytics. In the 5th National Games here, the hosts gathered 13 golds from Taekondo, seven golds, 5 silvers and two bronzes from cycling, three golds and a silver from Triatthalon four golds and two silvers from fencing, two golds and a bronze from Gymanastics and 3 golds, 2 silvers and 3 bronzes from judo.

Punjab to host next

Punjab will host the sixth National games during year 2000 president of the Indian Olympic Associatiion Suresh Kalmadi announced here today.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the 5th National Games, Kalmadi informed that the next winter National Games would be held in Manali, Himachal Pradesh also in year 2000.

It may be mentioned that both Punjab and Bhopal were keen contenders for hosting this meet and finally Punjab became successful in its bid to host the next NatiionalGames.

Millet, Xavier emerge best

Bettering her 1997 Bangalore National Games performance, wonder mermaid Nisha Millet of Karnataka emerged as the Best sportswoman of the 5th National Games8217; with a fantastic haul of 14 gold and a silver here.To claim the equivalent title in the men8217;s section was another swimmer, veteran Sebastian Xavier, who picked up seven gold and a silver for Kerala.Out of 15 events Nisha participated, only once did she finish second. The diminutive girl had bagged nine gold last time.

She won the gold this time in 50, 100, 200 and 400 All frestyle, 50, 100, 200 All backstroke, 100, 200 Butterfly and 200, 400 Individual medley. Besides, she was also member of the gold medal-winning relay teams for 4 X 400 Freestyle, 4 X 200 Freestyle and 4 X 100 Medley relay. The only event she finished with a silver was 50 Butterfly where she was pushed to the 2nd spot by Bengal8217;s Sreeja Mazumdar.

The events Xavier got gold were 50 And 100 freestyle, 100 Backstroke, 50 Breast-strokeand 200 Individual medley. He also helped the Kerala men8217;s team win the 4 X 400 Medley relay and 4 X 400 freestyle relay. Xavier8217;s lone silver came from 100 Brest-stroke.

Kerala claims gold

The last two gold medals of the 5th National Games were won by Kerala and Services in handball here today. While Kerala women beat hosts Manipur by a narrow 20-19 margin in a violence-marred match, Services men got the better of Punjab 30-27.

The final between Manipur and Kerala girls was close with both sides unwilling to yield ground. With Kerala leading 20-19 at the last minute,a Manipur goal was disallowed with the referee ruling that the scorer had over-stepped.

This decision angered the home crowd and they started throwing whatever they could lay their hands on into the playing arena. The referee was their target and the Kerala girls too had to be escorted to safety by security personnel. Finally, the crowd went back disappointed as Kerala were awarded the gold.

Later, in the men8217;s final, Servicescaptain A K Chauhan led their victory charge topsoring with 10 strikes. Jasbir Singh chipped in with six and Satish Kumar added five more for the winners. For Punjab, Raja scored nine but none of the rest could manage more than five.

Services finish sixth

With every second player bagging a medal on an average, the Services team has earned the highest number of medals going by their number of participants vying in the Games.

The Services picked up 80 medals altogether from 158 athletes who represented the team at the Games. The feat helped them end up in the sixth slot with an overall tally of 28 gold, 26 silver and 25 bronze. The Services participated only in the men8217;s events except in shooting, where they put up a brave fight to dominate even Delhi which had the formidable Jaspal Rana. From the 46 shooters, they won 20 medals including nine gold, five silver and six bronze.

In the boxing led by Asian Games gold medalist and local hero Dingko Singh, all but two of the ten servicemen won medalsincluding six gold, beside a silver and three bronze. The Services were also declared the team champions in athletics among the men, garnering a total of six gold, five silver and one bronze. In addition the Services athletes took two gold in swimming, three in weight-lifting and one in Archery.