Sikdar grabs second bronze

FUKUOKA, July 21: Jyotirmoyee Sikdar picked up another bronze, her second of the meet and India's sixth in the current Asian Championship...

FUKUOKA, July 21: Jyotirmoyee Sikdar picked up another bronze, her second of the meet and India8217;s sixth in the current Asian Championships, but it was PT Usha who raised hopes of India8217;s first gold medal with a blistering run in 23.27 seconds under rain-swept conditions. Usha and the men8217;s 4215;400 metres team, which clocked a new national record time of 3:06.33 should be among medals for sure.

The already thin crowd was even poorer as the rain and thunderstorm hit the stadium and left the rest of the programme in tatters and much of it was put off to the last day amidst some controversy.

Forced to wait for more than two hours for 200m semi-finals, Usha made light of the challenge posed to her and that included Svetlana Bodritskaya, who had beaten her to the silver in the 400m on Monday. Usha was more than half a second ahead of the Kazhak girl, but was cautious enough to say that maybe her rival was not pushing herself full throttle under the trying conditions.

Usha8217;s form in the 400m suggests that the200m could yield better dividends because she has looked good with her initial bursts and in the quarter-mile it was the last 50 metres which cost a better medal than bronze.

Sikdar, who had expected to go under two minutes, looked affected by the long wait. Still she did well to hang to the tail of the two Chinese and the Taipei girl, Li Ya-Huei. But once the going got faster, the Chinese were far too good. Liu Jing, who had dropped out of the 400m on the second day, looked liked having made a good decision because she was in better form this evening.

Neelam will have to wait for another day to finish her event, but she can sleep well as she leads after two rounds with a best of 56.34m. GG Prameela is eighth in the heptathlon field.

The men8217;s 4 x 400 metres quartet anchored by Paramjit Singh, who cracked 46 seconds last night, came in second behind favourites Japan. But their effort of 3:06.33 was a new national records improving the old mark by 0.33 seconds.

RESULTS

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Five field events scheduledfor Tuesday were put off to Wednesday

Men: 110m hurdles: 1. Chen Yanhao Chn 13.53s; 2. Qi Hen Chn 13.74s; 3. Andrey Skylarenko Kzk 13.86.
Women: 800m: 1. Zhang Jian Chn 2:01.16 Asian Championship record. Previous record: Shiny Abraham Ind 2:03.16 in 1985; 2. Liu Jing Chn 2:01.85s; 3. Jyotirmoy Sikdar India 2:02.65.
100m hurdles: 1. Olga Shishigina Kzk 13.04s; 2. Feng Yun Chn 13.10s; 3. Sriyani Kulaansha Fonseka Sri 13.16s.

HOW THE INDIANS FARED

Men: 4x100m: Indians Anand Menezes, Amit Khanna, Vikram Singh, Rajeev Balakrishnan fourth in first semi-final in 40.53; qualified for final.
4x400m: Indians Jata Shankar, M Ramachandran, Lijo David, Paramjit Singh second in first semi-final in 3:06.33 new National record; qualified for final
Women: 200m: PT Usha first in second semi-final in 23.27 seconds; qualified for final
Heptathlon: GG Prameela, 8th with 3,039 points after four events. Three more togo.
Discus: Neelam J Singh leading after two rounds with a best of 56.34. Event to be completed on Wednesday.