Sinju equals own national mark

With the gaze of spectators and lesser players fixed on her,Sinju Prakash slowly accelerated her run,a grip of steel around the pole,knowing that she only had herself to beat

With the gaze of spectators and lesser players fixed on her,Sinju Prakash slowly accelerated her run,a grip of steel around the pole,knowing that she only had herself to beat. In her previous attempt in the pole vault event at the ongoing National School Games athletics meet here,she had already jumped to a height of 3.30 metres,an effort that had already put her well ahead of the competition and ensured gold.

But not content with just a winning mark,17-year-old Sinju wanted to test her own limits and went for for an ambitious 3.35 leap. She made the jump look far easier,clearing the bar with enough space to spare,setting a new meet record and equalling the national junior (under 18) record incidentally,set by herself at the national junior athletics meet in Ranchi only last year.

That perhaps gave her the confidence attempt an even higher mark,setting a target of 3.40m as her next challenge. Unfortunately,she failed in all three attempts,leaving her personal best 0.05m lower.

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But even though she may have failed to set a new record here,few are betting against it in the future. Every time the bar goes higher,so does Sinjus ambition. The daughter of a mason,Sinjus efforts took flight at the Jumps Academy,in Pala,Kerala,under coach KP Satheesh Kumar. The national call,Satheesh says,is not too far away.

She is the most promising trainee at my academy,and she can easily go beyond the 4.08 metre senior national record by VS Surekha of Tamil Nadu. With a talent like that,she will definitely be a part of the Indian camp by the end of this year, Satheesh predicted.

Kerala champions for 15th time

Meanwhile,Kerala proved yet again that they are the team to beat when it comes to athletics in the country,across age groups. With 29 gold,25 silver and 15 bronze in the competition and 266 points,Kerala easily took the overall team championship trophy for a record 15th time.

Hosts Punjab finished runners-up while Haryana bagged third position.