The Hindu : Sport / Athletics : Nagaraj is the fastest man

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Saturday, May 12, 2007
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Sport

Sport - Athletics

Nagaraj is the fastest man

Amitabha Das Sharma

KOLKATA : Jharkhand's B.G. Nagaraj upstaged favourite Sameer Mon (Army) to win the 100 metres in 10.69 seconds and become the fastest man in the XIIIth Federation Cup athletics championships at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Friday evening.

The contest had gained momentum with Nagaraj threatening Mon from the qualifying stages. Nagaraj, who had a nondescript run in the first heats, clocked the fastest time (10.69 seconds) in the semifinals. Mon, a shade slower in 10.70s, seemed to have given it up then.

Nagaraj, a railway employee posted in Jharkhand, repeated his performance in the final to beat Mon, who recorded only a timing of 10.73s. Bengal's Rahamatulla Molla took the bronze in 10.84s.

Poonam in charge

In the women's 100m, the script went on expected lines as veteran Poonam Tomar of Delhi (12.16s) emerged the fastest in the absence of a suitable challenger.

H.M. Joythi of Andhra Pradesh took silver, while host team's Ranjita Roy was third.

In the men's 800m, Francis Sagayaraj of Army was given a fright by his colleague C. Hamza, who almost forced a photo-finish.

Sagayaraj, who made a brilliant dash in the last 50 metres, had to be at his personal best to overtake Hamza at the finish line. Sagayara won in 1:48.27s and Hamza clocked 1:48.29s.

In the women's 800 metres, Sinimol Paulose of Jharkhand had little difficulty in justifying her status as the top athlete in the distance and returned a timing of 2:05.13s. Sushma of Delhi took second place with 2:06.67s.

Bala Devi reigns

Y. Bala Devi of Bengal maintained her supremacy in the women's 20km walk with a time of 1:48:40.99. However, the timing was nowhere near the meet record she set four years ago.

Army runner Om Prakash won the men's steeplechase while Nirbhay Singh of Uttar Pradesh threw the hammer to a distance of 65.17 metres to ensure the gold medal.

Sinimol M.P. of Kerala gave Bengal's Susmita Singha Roy a tough challenge before the former managed to win with a mere four-point lead in the heptathlon. V. Lellavathi of Tamil Nadu was a distant third.

The results:

Men: 100m: 1. B.G. Nagaraj (Jhar) 10.69, 2. Sameer Mon (Army) 10.73, 3. Rahamatulla Molla (Ben) 10.84; 800m: 1. Francis Sagayaraj (Army) 1:48.27, 2. C. Hamza (Army) 1:48.29, 3. Sajeesh Joseph (Ker) 1:48.34; 3000m steeplechase: 1. Om Prakash (Army) 9:06.13, 2. Bhagwan Diwakar Giri (Har) 9:06.69, 3. Mahesh Kumar (Mah) 9:11.24; Hammer throw: 1. Nirbhay Singh (U.P.) 65.17m, 2. Harinder Singh (Pun Pol) 62.65, 3. Yogesh (Army) 61.42.

Women: 100m: 1. Poonam Tomar (Del) 12.16, 2. H.M. Jyothi (AP) 12.19, 3. Ranjita Roy (Ben) 12.36; 800m: 1. Sinimol Paulose (Jhar) 2:05.13, 2. Sushma (Del) 2:05.51, 3. A. Vijila (Ker) 2:06.67; 20km walk: 1. Y. Bala Devi (Ben) 1:48:40.99, 2. Supriya Adhak (Mah) 1:56: 49.15, 3. Subhasmita Rath (Ori) 2:10:42.74; Javelin throw: 1. Gurpreet Kaur (Har) 46.01m, 2. Nisha Rani (Har) 44.55, 3. Mukesh Rani (Har) 43.18; 3000m steeplechase: 1. Sudha Singh (U.P.) 11:11.58s, 2. Kamlesh Baghel (U.P.) 11:19.03, 3. Ningombam Ibengobi Devi (Man) 11:32.34. Heptathlon: 1. Susmita Singha Roy (Ben) 4891 points, 2. Sinimol M.P. (Ker) 4887, 3. V. Lellavathi (TN) 4261.