The Hindu : China should dominate again

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Sep 20, 2003

Sport

Sport - Athletics

China should dominate again

By K.P. Mohan

Sprinter Anil Kumar (left), high jumper Bobby Aloysius (centre) and shot putter Shakti Singh (extreme right) coming out of the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila on Friday, on the eve of the Asian athletics championships. — Photo: V. Sudershan

MANILA SEPT. 19. China is back at near full strength for the Continental championships after a year's gap. That should be comforting news for the organisers even as it should be an intimidating piece of information, if not a despairing one, for the rest of the athletes on the eve of the Asian athletics championships, beginning at the Rizal Memorial Stadium here on Saturday.

China opted to field only a second-string team last time in Colombo, mainly because the Busan Asian Games was looming large on the horizon. And though it won 10 gold medals, there was a feeling that, like Japan, China might also treat the Continental championships for grooming its young talent, keeping its best away in future also.

That has not happened and, as in the past, China should almost completely dominate these championships. The 15th edition of the championships has been timed poorly, just within three weeks of the World championships, with the Afro-Asian Games still more than a month away.

Considering the timing of the meet, it is a surprise that it has attracted most of the top-ranked athletes in the continent barring a few who might either be nursing injuries, not so enthusiastic after the World championships or plain exhausted towards the end of a tiring season.

A cursory look at the preliminary entries will show that China has entered 11 of the 13 individual gold winners at the last Asian Games. The missing man is high hurdler Liu Xiang, who won the bronze at the Paris Worlds. In his absence, countryman Shi Dongpeng should rule the 110m hurdles.

Qi Haifeng, the decathlete who had finished seventh at the Paris Worlds with a National mark of 8126, and Sun Yingjie, the new world bronze medallist in the 10,000m are expected to figure here also.

Sun Yingjie's exceptional ability to tackle long distance races within short periods is all too well known and yet to have run the 10,000m plus the 5000m heats and final in Paris, and the 5000m at Shanghai should have taken a heavy toll of the runner who scored the distance double at the last Asian Games. She should be one of the top attractions here if she does compete and should be the overwhelming favourite as well.

China's other main gold medal contenders in the men's section should be javelin thrower Li Rongxiang and discus thrower Wu Tao, both Asian Games champions and both in good form this season. Of course the bulk of the Chinese gold should come from their women and there is every indication of a clean sweep in the throws. Hammer thrower Gu Yuan, incidentally, recorded a new Asian mark of 72.03 in Shanghai only a week ago, while shot putter Li Meiju, discus thrower Song Aimin and javelin thrower Ma Ning should be fancying their chances as well since they are the season-leaders in the continent.

Japan, not very enthusiastic about the Asian meet in the preceding years, barring the early ones plus the last edition in Colombo, has once again kept its stars at home.

In contrast, Saudi Arabia is expected to field all its regulars including the favourite in the 400 metres, Hamdan Odha Al-Bishi. Though he was beaten at the Busan Asian Games by Kuwaiti Fawzi Al-Shammari, Al-Bishi looks the better bet in the quarter mile on the strength of his current form.

Qatar's Kenyan imports, 3000m steeplechaser Saif Saeed Shaheen and long distance runner, Ahmed Hassan Abdullah, have not been entered. But the country that took eight gold medals in Colombo and then went on to disappoint in Busan, should be running Saudi Arabia close in the medals chase. The 400m hurdler Faraj Mubarak Al-Nubi looks the best bet among the Qataris.

Anju not participating

India is without five of its six individual gold winners at Busan (the seventh gold having come in the women's 4x400m relay) due to a variety of reasons. Middle distance runner Sunita Rani, whose positive dope test caused quite a furore in the post-Asian Games phase, opted out, while K.M.

Beenamol, the 800m gold medal winner in Busan, has just come out of an enforced absence from the track due to a toe injury.

Shot putter Bahadur Singh, though he competed and won the silver in the Jamshedpur inter-State, had also indicated much earlier that he was not available. The Bengal sprinter, Saraswati Saha, did not make an appearance at any of the National meets this season and was naturally a non-starter for this meet.

Neelam J. Singh, the discus gold winner in Busan, has made it. Not in the best of form, she wrote a new chapter for herself in Paris by becoming the first Indian athlete ever to make the finals at a World championships. Long jumper Anju B. George followed and the rest is history.

After having been undecided about her participation here, Anju and husband and coach Bobby George finally announced their decision to skip the Asians as they reached Delhi the other day from Monaco, where she finished fifth.

Anju was too tired after her European tour culminating in the World athletics finals, it was explained.

That leaves Neelam J. Singh as India's main gold medal hope. Veteran shot putter Shakti Singh should not be far behind in the gold reckoning, while high jumper Bobby Aloysius, with a season best of 1.88m (National mark of

1.90m) should also consider herself among the top contenders, especially in the absence of Kyrgyzstan's Tatiana Effimenko who beat her both at Colombo and Busan last year.

K.M. Binu should also have been a serious contender for at least the silver in the 800m, where Saudi Arabian Mohammed Al-Salhi should be the odds-on favourite, but the Kerala youngster, after having an encouraging run-up at the end of a training stint in England was down with fever by the time the team was preparing to leave Delhi.

He did recover somewhat to raise Indian hopes but on Friday afternoon, as the others came into the stadium for a workout, Binu was absent. Coach Harbans Singh said that his participation was still in the balance and a final decision would be taken after an assessment by the team doctor.

From among the others, discus thrower Anil Kumar, though in rather indifferent form this season, would have been expected to produce a medal, but he is yet to arrive here. His event is scheduled for the opening morning on Saturday.

Several other Indians, including heptathletes Pramila Aiyappa and Soma Biswas, 800m runner Madhuri Singh, hammer thrower Hardeep Kaur and distance runner Aruna Devi should consider themselves among the medal contenders, though they have a tough job on hand. The longer relay teams in both sections and even the men's sprint relay team should also be hoping to get onto the podium. It all depends on who all are competing. The truth is, we don't know yet!

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