The Hindu : Sport / Athletics : Saraswati books Athens berth

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Saturday, Jul 24, 2004

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Sport - Athletics

Saraswati books Athens berth

By Avinash Nair

BANGALORE, JULY 23. On a day when rain twice interrupted the proceedings at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, West Bengal's Saraswati Saha provided the silver lining in the fourth National athletic Circuit meet here on Friday.

The doughty Eastern Railway officer sped past the 200 metres women's field to stop the clock at 23.07 seconds and in the process booked her berth for the Athens Olympics.

Heavy underfoot conditions did not further the cause of the athletes, however.

Saraswati was nowhere near her personal best of 22.82 seconds.

But under the circumstances she was not expected to be at her best either and when the effort was recorded it not only surprised the followers but her too.

"I am delighted at the thought of running in the Olympics. After a good outing at the Inter-State meet in Chennai, four days ago, I was hopeful of a good showing. But the rain did dampen the spirits," said a gleeful Saraswati. The qualifying mark was set at 23.13 seconds for the `B' standard.

P. Anil Kumar, the ace 200 metres runner and National record holder was thoroughly disappointed.

His effort of 20.98 seconds, his fifth sub 21.0 seconds run in the event this season, was just not enough to book him a berth. "It is all my fate," bemoaned the Kerala runner, who looked in cracking form after his stupendous showing in Chennai.

Chennai and Bangalore have produced a few National records over the last few years.

If the shot putters and triple jumpers were expected to touch the mark, it came as a jolt. The weather was the main culprit as the run-up and the rings saw the athletes treading gingerly.

And even as the organisers went about felicitating former Karnataka Olympians and Arjuna, Ekalavya, Dasara and Rajyotsava awardees, the floodlights needed for the last event — hammer throw — were not on. After the first round of the throws in the hammer event for men, the lights were switched off by the authorities delaying the proceedings considerably.

The results:

Men: 100m: 1. Piyush Kumar (Del) 10.62s, 2. R. Seenivasan (TN), 3. Arshad Hussein (AP).

200m: 1. P. Anil Kumar (Ker) 20.98s, 2. Piyush Kumar (Del), 3. Arshad Hussein (AP).

400m: 1. Bhupinder Singh (ONGC) 46.78s, 2. P. Shankar (ONGC), 3. P. S. Sreejith (Ker). 800m: 1. P.S. Primesh (Ker) 1:51.17s, 2. Josemon Mathew (Army), 3. Jayakumar (Ker).

High jump: 1. Benedict Stanley (TN) 2.11m, 2. Harishankar Roy (WB), 3. K. R. Roshan (Ker).

Long jump: 1. Sanjay Kumar Rai (UP) 7.70m, 2. Maha Singh (Pun), 3. Rajesh Babu (Ker).

Triple jump: Amarjeet Singh (Pun) 16.24m, 2. Alex Thomas (Kar), 3. Bhupendra Singh (Pun).

Shot put: 1. Shakti Singh (Har) 19.40m, 2. Ranvijay Singh (UP), 3. Singh (Pun). Javelin throw: 1. Jagdish Bishnoi ((Pun) 76.44m, 2. Brahma S. Dubey (Mah), 3. Gajendra Singh (UP).

Hammer throw: 1. Kulvinder Singh (Pun) 62.25m, 2. Birkarn Singh (Pun), 3. Madhu Kumar (Har). 110m hurdles: 1. Gurpreet Singh (Pun) 14.24s, 2. Ranjit Singh (Del), 3. Sridhar (TN)s.

Women: 200m: 1. Saraswati Saha (WB) 23.07s, 2. Poonam Tomar (Del), 3. S. Geetha (AP).

800m: 1. Madhuri A Singh (Pun) 2:04.16s, 2. Sutapa Das (WB), 3. Jenjinder Kaur (Pun).

Long jump: 1. G. G. Pramila (Kar) 6.18m, 2. Ruta Patkar (Mah), 3. Sripriya P. (TN). High jump: 1. Sahana Kumari (Kar) 1.70m, 2. Sarita Patil (Mah), 3. Soma Biswas (WB).

Hammer throw: 1. Hardeep Kaur (Pun) 59.68m, 2. Rakhi Goud (Mah), 3. Sashikala (TN). 100m hurdles: 1. G. G. Pramila (Kar) 13.98s, 2. Soma Biswas (WB), 3. Ruta Patkar (Mah).

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