Rosa Kutty, Paramjit corner glory

BANGALORE, June 8: Karnataka's Rosa Kutty showed admirable fighting qualities while clinching the 400 metres gold and Paramjit Singh overca...

BANGALORE, June 8: Karnataka8217;s Rosa Kutty showed admirable fighting qualities while clinching the 400 metres gold and Paramjit Singh overcame his disappointment in the 200 metres by taking the quarter-mile in a new National Games record timing of 46.97 seconds on the third day of the five-day track and field competitions at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Sunday.

Gurmeet Kaur of Delhi also distinguished herself with a record effort in the javelin, hurling the spear to a distance of 49.69 metres.The day was not without controversies as the 50-km gruelling walk for men saw Manipur athlete Abungcha Meital dropping out at the half-way mark despite being in the third position. The event was won by Karnataka8217;s Santosh in a timing of 4:28.26 seconds, followed by Ashok Kumar Services and Tamil Nadu8217;s Keshar Singh.

Rosa Kutty, who took to 400 metres basically to increase her speed for the 800 and 1500 metres, saw a chance of going for a treble in the absence of Shiny Wilson.

Delhi8217;s Jyotirmoy Sikdar showed early speed, entering the home stretch, a couple of metres clear of a persevering Rosa. However, Rosa who is endowed with tremendous staying ability, caught up with Sikdar to win in 53.24s. Kerala8217;s K K Beenamol was third.

8220;When Rosa came under me, she lacked speed but had plenty of staying power. So, I made her to run in the 400 metres so that she could improve speed which would help her in the middle and long distances races for which she is cut out for,8221; said coach Purushotham Rai. 8220;Earlier, her arm action was not helping her in finishing bursts but training has helped her a great deal,8221; added Rai.

For Rosa, this was the first win in this event at the National level. 8220;I knew I had a great opportunity of going for the treble and I am quite pleased with my performance in this event,8221; said an elated Rosa.

Paramjit was a cut above the rest when outclassing his rivals in the 400 metres race for men in a timing of 46.97 seconds. Maharashtra8217;s Sidharta Basak showed plenty of zest when getting the better of Lizo David Kerala for the second spot. Parmajit8217;s timing bettered the Games record which stood at 47.37s.

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As expected, Bahadur Prasad, who was returning to the track after a setback in training, won the 1500 metres 8212; but not before going through some anxious moments 8212; in a time of 4:08.72 seconds. Bahadur went clear of the rest inside the final 400 metres and kept increasing his lead but Satish Kumar Services came up with an inspired run to come closing on him. However, Bahadur pulled out his reserve energy to hold on to the lead.

Kerala8217;s Lekha Thomas extended her undoubted superiority in the jumps with an effort of 13.08 metres to add the triple jump gold to her kitty. She had won the long jump on the opening day. Once again, teammate Anju ended up second best with 12.89m to her credit.

Delhi8217;s Rajesh Yadav emerged as the best all-rounder of the meet, winning the rather taxing decathlon with a tally of 6435 points followed by Bhoop Singh Services and Kerala8217;s R Mathew.