The Hindu : Sport / Athletics : Bahadur Singh qualifies for Athens

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Saturday, May 29, 2004

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Sport - Athletics

Bahadur Singh qualifies for Athens

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MAY 28. Shot putter Bahadur Singh has joined the growing list of Indian qualifiers for the Olympic Games.

According to the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), the Punjab athlete putted to a career-best distance of 20.40 metres at a meet at Koncha-Zaspa, near Kiev, on May 22 to make the grade for the Athens Games. Ukrainians A. Bordkin (20.12) and Y. Porkhomenk (19.19) were second and third respectively, an AFI release stated on Friday.

The qualifying standard for the Games are: 20.30m (A) and 20.00m (B). The AFI has been talking about the possibility of three shot putters reaching the norm. For that to come about, both Shakti Singh (best of 19.43m this season) and Navpreet Singh (best of 19.58m) will have to achieve 20.30 or better. Shakti Singh holds the National record at 20.42m, but also has a 20.60m recorded in the year 2000.

Thirty-one-year-old Bahadur, whose previous best was the 20.01m which he recorded in Chennai on 29 July, 2000, headed the season's charts among Indians, with his 19.72m in Delhi on April 15. He is coming back this season from a foot injury that had handicapped him for much of the 2003 season when he competed only in a few meets.

Bahadur, along with 21 other Indian athletes are currently on a training-cum-competition programme in Kiev.

So far, 12 Indian athletes have made the minimum standard required for the Olympics.

The others who have made the grade are: Men: K. M. Binu (400m), Amritpal Singh (long jump) and Vikas Gowda (discus). Women: Manjit Kaur, Rajwinder Kaur and S. Geetha (400m); Anju B. George (long jump); Neelam J. Singh, Harwant Kaur and Seema Antil (discus); J. J. Shobha (heptathlon.) The women 400m runners and discus throwers (barring Neelam J. Singh) have only the `B' norms, meaning only one among the qualifiers can make it.

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