The Hindu : Sport / Athletics : Spotlight on Indians

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 27, 2007
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Sport - Athletics

Spotlight on Indians

K.P. Mohan

Renjith, Joseph bring element of freshness

With two victories over Li Yanxi, Renjith is on a high Abraham has qualified for the World championships

PUNE: Indian athletics tended to revolve around a few relays and throws events, apart from Anju Bobby George, in the international context in recent times. The situation has changed considerably and today there are others to look up to in events that hardly hit the headlines two seasons ago.

The remarkable feats of triple jumper Renjith Maheswary and intermediate hurdler Joseph Abraham in the Guwahati leg of the Asian Grand Prix have provided an additional dimension to Indian athletics that seemed to have hit a ‘low’ in the season-ending Asian Games in Doha last year.

Handling pressure

Time alone will tell whether Renjith and Abraham will be able to maintain their performance levels on bigger stages and be ready to withstand the pressures of global competitions.

Whatever be the eventual outcome, the 22-year-old Renjith and the 25-year-old Abraham have given a refreshing look to Indian athletics. As this city gets ready to go through the final leg of the Asian circuit on Wednesday, amidst intermittent showers and the threat of monsoon fury very much in the air, the spotlight should remain on Indian athletes.

In less than three years, Renjith has, rather incredulously, added nearly a metre to his best. As a junior he was among the top 25 in the world in 2004 with his Junior National performance of 16.06m in Vijayawada. In Guwahati he jumped 17.04m to better the 36-year-old National record of Mohinder Singh Gill (16.79) and felt that he could have touched 17.20 or beyond but for missing the ‘board’.

With two victories over Asian Games champion Li Yanxi of China and the 17m-plus mark against his name, Renjith is on a high.

His Guwahati performance puts him as the 17th best man in the world lists this season. He is currently ranked 38th in the world.

Rekindling interest

Abraham has graduated to the sub-50 level in the 400 metres hurdles steadily over the last two seasons. He had a best of 50.22s, a national mark, in 2006 and improved that to 50.04s and 49.52s this season. The Kerala and CRPF athlete is only ranked 99th in the world and does not have a top-20 slot in the season’s lists. Yet, in an event almost forgotten for more than two decades, Abraham has rekindled interest.

With his Guwahati performance, Abraham has qualified for the World championships in Osaka in August. “I was expecting to go under 49 seconds in Guwahati,” he said at the Baburao Sanas Stadium on Tuesday.

Apart from Renjith and Abraham, expectations should be high over Anju George’s pursuit of the World championships qualification mark of 6.60metres. She was not hundred per cent fit in Guwahati, but is eager to perform here if the weather permits.

Focus on metric milers

Focus will also be on the metric milers in either section, Chatholi Hamza and Sinimole Paulose who could not have relished the conditions in Guwahati while returning timings of 3:41.68s and 4:15.53s respectively.

Hamza and Sinimole have to be aiming for 3:39.00s and 4:10.00s respectively if they have to make it to Osaka. Renjith and Sinimole are among the 13 athletes who would be gunning for a hat-trick.

Appreciation

There is appreciation for the work put in by Belarus coach Nikolai Snesarev in bringing up the level of middle and long distance runners, but at the same time there is a question mark over a few other foreign coaches who have not produced the results that were expected last year and have not given any indication so far that things could be different this season.

From an overall Asian perspective, the duels between Uzbek Guzel Khubbieva and Sri Lankan Susanthika Jayasinghe in the women’s 100 metres and that between Chinese Wen Yongyi and Thai Wachara Sondee in the men’s dash have provided excitement.

The foreigners did not exactly enjoy their experience in Guwahati because of the security-related restrictions. The cooler climate and the tension-free atmosphere here should help them wind up the circuit on a happy note.

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