The Hindu : Sport / Athletics : Maiden overall championship for host Kerala

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 05, 2005

Sport

Sport - Athletics

Maiden overall championship for host Kerala

Principal Correspondent

KOCHI : When she landed at the Lake View Stadium for the Junior Federation Cup here, not many gave Kerala's Frency Thomas a chance. For the slim girl had some big names to contend with in the 400 and 800m.

Tamil Nadu's N.C. Mohanlal, who won a double at the Junior inter-zone Nationals a couple of weeks ago in Bhubaneswar, was the clear favourite, especially in the two-lapper on Friday.

Uttar Pradesh's Sangeeta Yadav was also among the front-runners for the gold.

But by the time the two-day meet ended this evening, Frency had two golds dangling down her long and graceful neck.

All rewards for her patient running and long strides which easily overthrew the early leaders on the final curve.

"The double was a surprise," said the 18-year-old who is coached by Gopalakrishna Pillai at the Kerala Sports Council's Centralised Hostel in Kollam. They were her first two individual event yellows in the National circuit.

A tiny wonder

Orissa's Namita Samal was another girl who caught the eye. Her case is all about appearances being deceptive. When she settled down on the starting blocks, many were worried that the tiny girl would be elbowed off the track by the biggies next to her.

And like the 100m yesterday, Namita appeared lost in the crowd soon after the gun in today's 200m. But after the halfway stage, the Cuttack SAI trainee was soon showing the others a clean pair of heels.

"That often happens after the 30-metre mark. First she chases and then the others chase her," said P.K. Mohanty, the Orissa coach. It happened twice at the recent Junior Inter-zone where Namita won a sprint double. She repeated the feat in Kochi too.

Host Kerala made a big mark too, winning the overall championship for the first time. Tamil Nadu, last year's champion, was a distant second. "Since we were hosting the event, we fielded a full-strength team for the first time," explained the Kerala Athletics Association secretary Paul Aluvathingal.

The results:

Boys: 200m: 1. S.Arunjith (Ker, 22.3 s), 2. Rigo K. George (Ker, 22.7), 3. Hargovind Rai (Mah, 23). 800m: 1. Sajeesh Joseph (Ker, 1:57.50 s), 2. Sunilkumar (Har, 1:57.70), 3. Sunaram Tiria (Ori, 1:58.60). 10,000m: 1. Rakesh Kumar (U.P., 33:51.97s), 2. Ganesh Dutt (UP, 35:07.66), 3. Ezhil Nilavan (TN, 36:14.58). 4 x 400m relay: 1. Kerala (3:24.7s), 2. TN (3:28.1). 400m hurdles: 1. V.B. Bineesh (Ker, 55.3 s), 2. P.P. Joemon (Ker, 56), 3. G.K. Mohan (Karn, 56.4). 10km walk: 1. Manoj Kumar (Har, 49:03.2 s), 2. Sushil Kumar Singh (Asm, 52:37.0), 3. Nithin Peter (Ker, 53:52.2). Triple jump: 1. Jeethu Mathai (Ker, 14.59m), 2. Anuj Bora (Asm, 14.22), 3. J.Lawran (TN, 13.97). Javelin: 1. Jyotish Rahang (Asm, 56.88m), 2. Bala Murali (TN, 56.61), 3. John Venel (TN, 55.57). Hammer: 1. Chetan Misra (U.P., 61.63m), 2. Diwakar Singh (UP, 60.22m), 3. R. Pratap (TN, 52.15). Decathlon: 1. R. Ezilvalavan (TN, 4611 pts), 2. P. Nondisamy (TN, 3491).

Girls: 200m: 1. Namita Samal (Ori, 25.3s), 2. Mariya James (Ker, 25.7), 3. E.S. Jyothi (Ker, 26). 800m: 1. Frency Thomas (Ker, 2:18.3s), 2. N.C. Mohanlal (TN, 2:19.3), 3. Dayana John Selvam (Ker, 2:19.8). 5000m: 1. Rajashree Patil (Kar, 19:32.60s), 2. C.V. Renjitha (Ker, 20:18.96), 3. Anuradha Singh (U.P., 20:58.48). 4 x 400m relay: 1. Kerala (4:05.5s), 2. TN (4:14.6). 400m hurdles: 1. Sini Jose (Ker, 1:04.9s), 2. Remya Gopi (Ker, 1:05.2), 3. Gitanjali Jena (Ori, 1:05.5). 10km walk: 1. Subhasmita Rath (Ori, 59:18.4s), 2. Lalita Chaudhary (UP, 1:04.10), 3. Anto Jeeva (TN, 1:12.18). High jump: 1. Tintu Varghese (Ker, 1.62m), 2. Lindamol M.Rajan (Ker, 1.60m), 3. P. Mohanapriya (TN, 1.60m). Triple jump: 1. M.A. Prajusha (Ker, 12.41m), 2. Reshmi Bose (Ker, 11.86), 3. P. Lakshmi (TN, 11.79). Pole vault: 1. N. Madhushini Devi (U.P., 2.90m), 2. C.V. Sarithakumari (Ker, 2.90m), 3. Sithara T. Ellath (Ker, 2.80). Hammer throw: 1. Anitha Abraham (Ker, 38.35m), 2. Saranya Prakash (TN, 37.70), 3. E.A. Rohini (Ker, 36.68m). Heptathlon: 1. C. Dhayalini (TN, 3736 pts), 2. T.T. Diya (Ker, 3630), 3. Rintu T. Sebastian (Ker, 3326).

Team championship: Boys: 1. Kerala (107 pts), 2. TN (104), 3. U.P. (70). Girls: 1. Kerala (169 pts), 2. TN (98), 3. U.P. (36).

Overall championship: 1. Kerala (276 pts), 2. TN (202), 3. U.P. (106).

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