The Hindu : Sport / Athletics : Kulwinder breaks record

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Wednesday, Aug 03, 2005

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Sport - Athletics

Kulwinder breaks record

S. Thyagarajan

Chennai: The moment that Kulwinder Singh waited for and dreamed of unfolded on a warm, sultry Tuesday at the JN Stadium here. With a performance that was impeccable, the 27-year-old Punjab decathlete obliterated a record, which many believed was unbreakable. It took an indomitable warrior like Kulwinder to push behind the 1972 aggregate of 7306 points by V.S. Chauhan, by 19 points. That tryst with destiny after a gap of 33 years hinged on Kulwinder Singh running the 1500 metres, the last event in the decathlon sequence, in 4:38s. But the energetic Army man from the Bengal Engineering Corps (Roorkee) capped a time of 4:36.88s. Kulwinder totalled 6625 points at the end of the ninth event and was looking forward to conquer a new frontier of excellence in the final event. And he did it in style, psyching himself to the hilt in the final stretch. ``I pushed myself through in the last 70 metres and I am elated now,'' said Kulwinder.

Unbeaten in the event for eight years in a row since 1997, Kulwinder was hovering over the 7000-mark since 2002 with the best coming at 7286 in the Asian Track and Field meet in Manila in 2003. His tally was 7034 in the Federation Cup at Hyderabad, and 7149 at the Open National in Delhi in 2002. Kulwinder received a cash award of Rs. 10,000 from the IOC.

Susmita's show

Susmita Singha Roy, as expected emerged the top heptathlete with a new tally of 5420 points bettering her own 5287 points secured in the last inter-State meet at Bangalore. Tamil Nadu won the team championship with 58 points followed by Karanata with 27 points. Deepak Pandya, GM, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, IOC, gave away the prizes in the presence of Walter I. Dawaram, President, Tamil Nadu Athletics Association.

The results: Decathlon: Men: 110m hurdles: 1. Ram Viswas (AP) 15.31s (812 points), 2. Jora Singh (Haryana) 15.52s (788), 3. Mandeep Kumar 15.54s (785); Discus throw: 1. Jora Singh 43.93m (745), 2. Kulwinder Singh (Punjab) 41.21s (689), 3. Mandeep Kumar 37.05 (605); Pole vault: 1. Kulwinder Singh 4.20m (673), 2. Jora Singh 4.10m (645), 3. Mandeep Kumar and Chandrasekhar (TN) 4m (617); Javelin: 1. Kulwinder Singh 57.75 m (704), 2. Jora Singh 56.60 (687), 3. Dhanajay Rai (UP) 54.06m (649); 1500m: 1. Kulwinder Singh 4:35.88s (700), 2. Ram Viswas 4:38.74s (688), 3. S.Chandrasekhar 4:47.10s (636).

Total Points: 1. Kulwinder Singh (7325 points), 2. Jora Singh (7073), 3. Mandeep Kumar (6897).

Boys (under-20): 1. Nondisamy (TN) (5750 points), 2. B. Srinivasa Reddy (AP) (5164), 3. V. Balamurali (TN) (4797).

Octathlon (boys under-18): 1. V. Deepankumar (TN) (4464 points), 2. Selvaraj (TN) (4376), 3. Sudhakar Singh (MP) (4262).

Pentathlon (boys under-16): 1. S. Raja Kumar (TN) (3597 points), 2. Rajiv Gandhi (TN) (3453), 3. Eswar Reddy (AP) (3288).

Heptathlon: Women: Long Jump: 1. Susmita Singha Roy (Bengal) 5.91m (822), 2. Soma Biswas (Bengal) 5.50m (700), 3. V. Leelavathi (TN) 5.39m (668); Javelin: 1. Soma Biswas 40.62m (679), 2. Susmita Singha Roy 32.58m (526), 3. V. Leelavathi 31.94m (513); 800 metres: 1. Susmita Singha Roy 2:24.80s (759), 2. V. Leelavathi 2:24.84 (759), 3. Roslin Arokya Mary (TN) 2:26.04s (743).

Total Points: 1. Susmita Singha Roy (Bengal) 5419 points, 2. Soma Biswas (Bengal) 5074, 3. Roslin Arokiyamary (TN) 4465.

Girls (under-20): 1. Shilpa Sundar (Karnataka) (4432 points), 2. Dhayalini (TN) 3996, 3. S.Priyadarshni (Kerala) (3702).

Girls (under-18): 1. Natasha Sagar (Karnataka) (4407), 2. Safina (Bengal) 4161, 3. Pavithra (TN) (3658).

Pentathlon (girls under-16): 1. Pallavi Sukumar (Karnataka) 3167 (NR), 2. G.M. Aishwarya (Karnataka) 3073, 3. Niksy Joseph (Kerala) 3053.

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