Monday, Nov 03, 2003
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Sports : General
By Our Special Correspondent
Winners of the 12th Asian triathlon championship held in Chennai on Sunday, pose with officials. Standing (from left): Natsuki Matsumoto (jr. girls), Yuichi Hosda (jr. boys), Qin Caini (under-23), Kenji Umatate (under-23 men), Shizuka Susuna (Elite women) and Daniil Sapunov (Elite men). Sitting: N. Ramachandran, President, ITF, Louda Peng, outgoing President, ASTC, Kyung Sun Yu, President-elect, ASTC and Balwant Singh Kler, Secretary General-elect, ASTC, who gave away the prizes.
Kazakhstan bagged the prestigious Elite men's title, but it was not Dmitriy Gaag who made the former Soviet State the lone challenger against the Japanese and Chinese onslaught in every category. The young and enterprising Kazakh Daniil Sapunov won the men's top honours in one hour 54:46 in almost a blanket finish in which the second-placed Chiwo Daniel Lee of Hong Kong who clocked 1:55:49.00 Even the bronze medallist Junichi Yamamato of Japan gave them a run for their money with a time of 1:57:30.00 in a race for 27 competitors who followed the Olympic distance (1.5 km swim, 40 km cycling and 10 km run). This was the only gold for Kazakhstan as the Japanese swept most of them, hardly leaving anything for others. Even China could get only one gold. Maybe the long coastline and ideal road conditions in their country help the Japanese to master this sport. "Of all the Asians, the Japanese approach this sport in a more professional way," said the Secretary-General elect Balwant Singh Kler of Malaysia. Japan swept all the three medals in the junior boys' and girls' sections. However, it faced a tough fight from China in the Elite and under-23 women's sections. Qin Caini of China bagged the under-23 title, but Japan's Shizuka Kusuna pushed China's Xing Ling and Wang Hongni to second and third spots, despite her battle with the hot and humid weather. Even in the under-23 men's category it was one-two finish for Japan's Kenji Umatate (2:07:23.00) and Kido Hiramatsu (2:08:38.00). Uzbekistan won its lone bronze in the meet. While the battle for the titles confined to just three countries — Kazakhstan, Japan and China — India was left behind in the race. "But I am satisfied with their performance. They came up to our expectations. In fact, the Indian girls did a good job in the team event and I am unable to declare it officially because of some technical problems. The team championships are to be announced on Monday," said N. Ramachandran, President, Indian Triathlon Federation. India's foreign coach Brett Mace also said that he was satisfied with the Indian teams' performance and he felt the teams needed more participation in international competitions. Mahesh Shinde, who was expected to do well in the Elite under-23 competition, fainted at the finish line. The results: Elite men: 1. Daniel Sapunov (Kazakh) 2. Chiwo Danile Lee (HK) 3. Junichi Yamamoto (Japan). Under-23: 1. Kenji Umatate (Japan) 2. Kodo Hirmatsu (Japan) 3. Ivan Morozov (Uzbek). Elite women: 1. Shizuka Kusuna (Japan) 2. Xing Lin (China) 3. Wang Hongni (China). Under-23: 1. Qin Caini (China) 2. Junko Yashiro (Japan) 3. Xin Yue (China). Junior boys: 1. Yuichi Hosoda (Japan) 2. Naomichi Aoshima (Japan) 3. Sho Higashino (Japan). Girls: 1. Natsuki Matsumoto (Japan) 2. Risa Kusunoki (Japan) 3. Keiko Tanaka (Japan).
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