Rai leaps over the 8m barrier

BANGALORE, AUG 8: Sanjay Kumar Rai of Uttar Pradesh was cynosure of all eyes as he became the second Indian to touch the eight-metre barr...

BANGALORE, AUG 8: Sanjay Kumar Rai of Uttar Pradesh was cynosure of all eyes as he became the second Indian to touch the eight-metre barrier in long jump while one National record and seven meet marks were sent into oblivion on the second day of the Fifth Federation Cup Athletic Championship here today.The 21-year-old Rai, an Eastern Railway employee, set the long jump pit on fire by leaping to eight metres in his fifth attempt. His jump eclipsed 7.58m mark of Amit Saha set in the inaugural edition at Calcutta in 1995. Rai, who had aimed to break the 25-year-old 8.07m mark of TC Yohanna, could not achieve it due to a lapse in concentration in his final attempt. The effort should book a berth in the World Cup Championship to be held in Spain later this year.

The National record was rewritten in hammer throw with all top three bettering the old mark. Jabeshwari Devi of West Bengal cleared 55.62m to obliterate the mark of 51.5m set by Surenderjit Singh in 1997 in Chennai.Others to set new marks today wereGurpreet Singh of Punjab (110m hurdles), Amrik Singh of Services (20 km walk), Shakti Singh of Haryana (shot put), Gurpreet Singh of Punjab (200m) in men’s section and Neelam J Singh of Punjab (discus) and 4×100 relay team in women’s section.

The other highlight of the day was former sprint queen PT Usha equalling her own record in 200m. With Vinitha Tripathi breathing down her neck, Usha breasted the tape at 23.3 secs, which was her previous best. However, she failed to improve upon her own National mark of 23.27 secs.

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The 200m sprint in men’s section also saw an intense fight which culminated with Maharashtra’s Anand Menzes setting a new mark timing 20.8 secs. Anil Kumar of Services and Jata Shankar of Uttar Pradesh finished second and third respectively. All the top three teams bettered the record in 4×100 relay in women’s section. Southern Railways wrote their name in the record books with 46 seconds. The previous record was held by West Bengal with 47.85 secs. Karnataka clocked 46.3 secs and Bengalcompleted in 47.3 secs.

Results

MEN — 110m hurdles: Gurpreet Singh (Pun) 14.2 secs (NMR); PT Yesudas (SR) 14.3; Harish Kushalappa (Kar) 14.3. Old Record: Harish Kushalappa (at Chennai-1998) 14.6. 200m: Anand Menezes (Mah) 20.8 secs (NMR); Anil Kumar (SER) 21.0; Jata Shankar (UP) 21.4. OR: Amit Khanna (Chennai-1997) 21.54. 3000 steeple chase: Amrish Kumar (SER) 9:20.9; Sanjay Kumar (SR) 9:44.6; Amritpal Singh (CRPF) 9:48.9. 4×100 relay: Bihar 41.4; TN 41.7; CRPF 41.8.

Long jump: Sanjay Kumar Rai (UP) 8m (NMR); Amit Saha (WB) 7.32m; S Ramachandran (TN) 7.20m. OR: Amit Saha (Calcutta-1995) 7.58m. Pole vault: Prabhjot Singh (CRPF) 4.55m; Shamsher Singh (CRPF) 4.40; Satpal Saini (TELCO) 4.20. 20 KM walk: Amrik Singh (SER)1h 31:5.7 (NMR), Seetharam (SER) 1h 32:15.3; Gurdev Singh (SER) 1h 33:39.9. OR: Gurdev Singh (Chennai-98) 1h 35:02.0s. Shot put: Shakti Singh (Har) 19.5m (NMR); Bahadur Singh (Pun Pol) 18.70; Jaiveer Singh (SER) 17.82. OR: Bahadur Singh (Chennai-98) 18.39.

WOMEN — 200m: PT Usha(SR) 23.3s; Vinitha Tripathi 23.8s; Mandeep Kaur 24.0s (both Delhi). 800m: Rosa Kutty (SR) 2:04.1s; Beenamol KM (SR) 2:07.6s; C Latha (TN) 2:08.1s. 10,000m: I Aruna Deb (WB) 37:54.9s; Renuka Hede (Kar) 39:07.6s; Madhuri Gurnule (Mah) 39:10.5s. 100m hurdles: Poonam B (Kar) 13.9s; Soma Biswas (WB) 14.0s; Pramila GG (SR) 14.2s. 4x100m relay: Southern Railway 46.0s; Karnataka 46.3s; West Bengal 47.3s. Hammer throw: Jabeshwari Devi (WB) 55.62m; Hardeep Kaur (Pun) 55.58; Phool Patti (CRPF) 53.10.

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Discus: Neelam Singh (Pun) 58.45m; Saroj Kumari (CRPF) 54.00; Harjeet Kaur (Pun) 54.00. High jump: S Jayanthi (Ind Bank) 1.74m; Deepa AK (CRPF) 1.68; Pramila (SR) 1.65.