The Hindu : Sport : Preeja picks up a double

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Monday, Feb 12, 2007
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Sport

Preeja picks up a double

A. Vinod

IN CONTROL: Preeja Sreedharan put up a commanding show winning both the 1,500m and 10,000m. — Photo: R. Ragu

Guwahati : A fine double by Preeja Sreedharan (Kerala) and a new meet record each by V.S. Surekha (Tamil Nadu) and Kashinath Aswale (Jharkhand) provided a better start, than what was anticipated, to the athletic events of the 33rd National Games at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, Sarasujai, on Sunday.

With the meet spread over five days, it is still a mystery as to why both the 1,500m and 10,000m of the women's section was scheduled on the same day and in the same session!

And why exactly had the Kerala manager failed to point out the mistake at the team managers meeting held on Saturday, particularly when he should have been aware that his team's best bet was to run both the races.

However, as things turned out, Preeja took no offence on being asked to run the 1,500m during the early part of the afternoon session and the more gruelling 10,000m less than three hours thereafter.

The Kerala athlete was sportive when asked to comment on the difficult situation after she had returned with the gold medals in both the events:

"It is all part of life. But I could have done a much better in the 10,000m had I remained fresh. The setting was quite helpful to go for at least the meet record," said the National record holder over the distance.

Formality

In the 1,500m, Preeja's victory was just a formality after she established herself in the front of the field near to the end of the first 400m.

Jhuma Khatun came up with a last-minute effort to close in on the lead enjoyed by the Kerala international, who, however, was not to be beaten in any way.

Much against expectations, Preeja chose to remain with the lead bunch in the 10,000m before she took control with slightly more than two laps remaining for the finish of the 25-lapper.

Surekha was unstoppable in the women's pole vault as she topped the existing Games record with a new high of 3.85m, obliterating the existing record of 3.35m.

However, the gritty Tamil Nadu athlete's effort to move into the 4.00m was to end in failure as Surekha threw in the towel after two unsuccessful attempts.

Kashinath Aswale was undoubtedly the star performer in the men's section. The Jharkhand athlete was right in contention all through as he stayed with lead pack before he outpaced Surender (Services), S. Raghunath (Tamil Nadu) and his own team-mate Sitaram Jat at the home stretch.

His time of 29:39.94s constituted a new meet record, reducing Bahadur Prasad's 1994 mark of 29:49.12 to a thing of the past.

Surender, the eventual silver-medallist, Raghunath, who picked up the bronze and Sitaram, finishing a close fourth, too came in well within the existing record.

The results:

Men: 1500m: 1. C.Hamza (SSCB), 3:47.51, 2. Sunil Kumar (Jkd), 3:48.28, 3. P. Trinath (AP), 3:48.70. 10000m: 1. Kashinath Aswale (Jkd), 29:39.49 (New Meet Record; Old Record 29:42.12), Bahadur Prasad, 1994, 2. Surender (SSCB), 29:40.16, 3. S. Raghunath (TN), 29:40.94. Shot put: 1. Navpreet Singh (Pun), 18.60m, 2.Sukhdev Singh (Pun), 17.62m, 3. Satendra Singh (UP), 17.34m. Javelin throw: 1. Parag Jyoti (Asm), 69.99m, 2. Gajendra Singh (UP), 69.89m, 3. Arun Kumar Patel (UP), 69.89m.

Women: 1500m: 1.Preeja Sreedharan (Ker), 4:38.38, 2. Jhuma Khatun (Ben), 4:38.75, 3. Iqbal Kaur (Pun), 4:40.19. 10000m: 1. Preeja Sreedharan (Ker), 36:09.30, 2. Preeti L. Rao (Jkd), 36:10.93, 3. Madhuri Gurnule (Mah), 36:17.33. Long jump: 1. J.J. Shobha (AP), 5.98m, 2. Anisha K.Vijayan (Ker), 5.95m, 3. M.A. Prajusha (Ker), 5.88m. Pole vault: 1. V.S. Surekha (TN), 3.85m (NMR; OR - 3.35m), Chetna Solanki, 2002, 2. N. Madhusini Devi (UP), 3.60m, 3. Gitanjali Boar (Asm), 3.50m.