The Hindu : Sport : Federation Cup from today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 01, 2005

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Federation Cup from today

K.P. Mohan

Competition should hot up in Delhi heat

NEW DELHI: Only a handful of athletes have impressed so far through four national meets in the heat of North India. As the three-day Federation Cup meet opens at the Nehru Stadium here on Wednesday, there is hope that more will be able to come up with top-level performances.

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has been roped in to sponsor this edition of the Federation Cup, but the sponsorship has not really helped the athletes strike a better deal for themselves.

Infrastructure-wise, the facilities will be better than at Patiala, for, the track is in better shape than at the National Institute of Sports, where huge bubbles had developed all over. On the weather front, there will be no reprieve, however, since temperatures over 40 degrees are the order of the day. Early morning starts for longer track events and walks plus a few preliminary rounds should help the athletes recover somewhat.

The lack of class in many of the events should be baffling for the `experts'. So far, the competitions have been more or less `closed' affairs, mainly restricted to the campers.

This meet is an open one and thus there will be more participation. Not just that, this will also be the first meet of the season for athletes in several events including decathlon, heptathlon, walks and distance events.

That only a lone athlete, discus thrower Neelam J. Singh, has recorded a mark better than the minimum standard for the World championships this season should tell the tale about the post-Olympics plunge.

Neelam's Patiala effort of 60.65m happened to be 65cm better than the qualifying mark for Helsinki.

The woman quarter-milers should make it. Sathi Geetha was, in fact, just short of the mark of 52.30s in the first circuit meet in Delhi when she timed 52.36.

Chitra K. Soman, with a career-best 57.70s for the intermediate hurdles at Ludhiana, should be looking to better her season best of 52.48s for the flat race.

On the men's side, the spotlight should turn back on National record holder Anil Kumar who will be competing in the shorter dash for the first time after a year's gap.

Events on the opening day will be held in two sessions from 6.30 a.m and 4.00 p.m.

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