The Hindu : Sport : Zakir Asadullah lifts silver in 77kg category

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 20, 2006

Sport

Sport

Zakir Asadullah lifts silver in 77kg category

India shocks Singapore but falls to England in badminton semifinals

Melbourne: India's Mohd. Zakir Asadullah showed no signs of nervousness despite a strong field to give India a silver medal in the 77kg category of the Commonwealth Games weightlifting competition here on Sunday. With this silver, India's tally has gone up to six — two gold, three silver and one bronze.

Majeti Fetrie of Ghana won the gold amid high drama with 309 kg, while Pakistan's Mohammad Irfan (299) took the bronze. Though Zakir's effort of 301 was not his best, he deserves credit as he was nursing an injury.

``I have no excuse to offer, but I was not fully fit. Otherwise, I would have gone for a higher weight in clean and jerk,'' said Zakir. ``It is a great feeling to be on the podium for your country.''

Zakir, who had a bad start, finished with 134 kg in snatch in his third attempt. In clean-and-jerk, Zakir opted for 167 kg. He failed in his first attempt but cleared it on his next visit. Fetrie lifted 168 with ease and then raised the weight to 171. Zakir went for 176 and failed. He finished with 301 (134+167).

Fetrie lifted 175 but it was disallowed as he took more time than allowed. The Ghanaian protested, but when Zakir failed to lift 176, which would have taken his total to 310, the officials relented and gave him the gold.

Indian men in final

The Indian paddlers assured themselves of at least a silver medal, as they upstaged Nigeria 3-2 in a nerve-wracking tie to storm into the final of the table tennis event. In a match of fluctuating fortunes, the score was 2-2 before India clinched the decider.

Nigeria began with an easy win when its star player Segun Toriola overwhelmed Soumyadeep Roy in straight games 12-10, 11-6, 11-8. The Nigerian played aggressively, never allowing his rival to settle down. Toriola's top spin had Soumyadeep in all sorts of trouble and the latter caved in without a fight.

Top-ranked Indian A. Sharath Kamal drew parity but not before being given a fright by Kazeem Nasiru. Sharath lost the first game but came back strongly to outplay his rival in the next three games. The final scoreline was 7-11, 13-11, 11-5, 13-11.

Subhajit Saha then put India ahead, overcoming a stiff resistance from Monday Merotohun in a long-drawn third encounter fought over five games.

It was 2-2 till the fourth game but in the final game, Subhajit put the issue beyond doubt with a stunning return. He won 5-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8. The Nigerians were in no mood to give up and in the fourth match, Toriola recorded his second victory, routing Sharath 11-8, 11-4, 11-9.

It all boiled down to the fifth and final tie. Soumyadeep found his touch in time to make amends for his earlier loss. The diminutive PSPB player made short work of Nasiru 15-12, 11-7, 11-8 to put India in the final.

In the women's section, India was blanked by Singapore in the semifinal.

Saina sizzles, but...

Despite Saina Nehwal's outstanding performance, England pipped India 3-2 in a thrilling semifinal of the badminton team event.

In the quarterfinals, India outplayed fancied Singapore 3-1 and it was Saina who led the team's victory charge by shocking world No. 12 Li Li.

In the semifinal, England's mixed pair of James Robertson and Gali Elizeabeth thrashed V. Diju and Trupti Murgunde 21-10, 21-7. However, Anup Sridhar made it 1-1, overpowering Aamir Ghaffar 21-15, 21-14.

The Indian morale was high when Saina faced World No. 9 Tracey Jayne Hallam. Saina matched her England opponent point for point and after levelling 15-15 in the first game, committed some unforced errors to trail 18-20. The Hyderabad girl did not give in and recovered quickly to win the game 23-21.

The second game was even better as she outsmashed her rival to clinch it 21-15 and give India a 2-1 lead. The men's doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas lost points at crucial moments to go down 19-21, 19-21 to Ian Anthony Clark and James Robert Blair.

The England women's duo of D.V. Kellogg and G.E. Emms overpowered Jwala Gutta and Shruti Kurian 21-11, 21-16 to book a place in the final. It meets Malaysia which got past New Zealand 3-1.

Three boxers progress

It turned out to be a good day for the Indian boxers, as three of the four recorded easy victories to sail into the quarterfinals.

Ajay Kumar gave India a bright start when he thrashed Tonga's Mokhai Parah on points in the one-sided 81-kg category contest. The Indian won 22-16, dominating all the four rounds.

Mayengbam ousted

Sunjoy Singh Mayengbam surprisingly lost to England's Darren John Langley 20-12 in the 91kg category.

In the 69kg section, the 21-year-old Vijender plastered Seychelles' Andy Alvyn Gabriel, winning 25-11. The Indian dominated all the four rounds to triumph with ease (6-3, 6-1, 8-4, 5-3).

The 91kg plus category bout involving Johnson and Kenya's Orieyo Fredrick Oracho lasted only 35 seconds, the referee stopping the contest in favour of the Indian who was leading 3-0 at that stage.

Swimmers fare badly

The Indian swimmers failed to impress and Shikha Tandon failed to progress beyond the semifinals in both the 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle.

Puneet Rana (30.93s) was a poor sixth in the 50m breaststroke heats, while Arjun Muralidharan (56.74s) proved another also-ran, finishing at the same position in the men's 100m butterfly.

Rehan Poncha, in the men's 400m Individual Medley, was eliminated after clocking 4:46.79s to finish fifth in his heats.

In the 100m freestyle heats for the Elite Athletes with Disabilities (EAD), K. Pande was knocked out after clocking 1:36.88s to finish fourth in the heats.

India loses to Scotland

India went virtually out of medal contention in men's basketball, losing 57-67 to Scotland, despite a late surge. — Agencies

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