The Hindu : Sport : Sudha Singh creates National record

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Friday, Oct 26, 2007
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Sport

Sport

Sudha Singh creates National record

S. Sabanayakan

Surekha wins gold but fails to better her own record

Railways has a good haul of medals
Shiv Shankar Yadav wins men’s long jump gold

— Photo: Sushanta Patronobish

JUMPING TO GOLD: V.S. Surekha of Railways on her way to winning the women’s pole vault event.

JAMSHEDPUR: On a day when below par performances were the order of the day, Sudha Singh of Railways lifted the spirits in the 47th Open National athletic championship with a National record breaking show in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase event at the JRD Tata Sports Complex here on Thursday.

The 21-year-old Mumbai-based Central Railway employee, competing in a poor field, pushed herself hard to produce the dream time of 10:18.76s to the surprise of one and all.

The Rae Barielli-born cross-country runner thus eclipsed the previous record of 10:44.65 by S. Shanthi at Bangalore two years back.

“My target before the race was 10:35. But the time I recorded surprised me,” she said. “Just a fortnight back I clocked 10:52 to win the Inter-Railway meet but shaving off nearly 26 minutes was a dream come true indeed,” the Rachita Mistry ward said.

The diminutive runner’s plans, unlike other athletes, were not the Olympics or the Asian Games. “I am aiming to win medals at the SAF and Commonwealth Games.”

She began her career with the 3,000 and 5,000m race before switching to cross-country. Only last year she moved to steeplechase. And Thursday’s showing ought to give her some satisfaction. “I will continue to do cross-country in addition to steeplechase,” said Sudha.

Earlier in the day, another woman tried to obliterate her own meet mark but failed. V.S. Surekha, another Railway athlete, having successfully vaulted to 3.75m for the gold medal tried and failed at 3.87m. Her record stood at 3.85 set last year at Delhi.

Egged on by her coach and V.V. Geesh Kumar, the men’s meet record holder in pole vault, Surekha failed to accelerate in the final four strides as desired by the duo and repeatedly knocked down the bar.

Gold for Kaur

Manpreet Kaur of Railways, just 17, took the women’s shot put gold medal with her first throw which measured 13.62m. Having a personal best of 14.49m set at the Delhi Federation Cup, the Patiala-born DLW employee has set her sights higher in the days to come. “I have been in the senior circuit for the past two years and my immediate plan is to hit the 15m mark soon,” she said.

Shiv Shankar Yadav of Railways produced the best jump, 7.73m, to take the men’s long jump gold. Shamsher Pratap Singh of Punjab and Rajeev Kumar of Police were second and third.

The meet record holder, Sanjay Kumar Rai, returning to competition after an injury induced break, hit the sand at 7.07m. Rai’s meet mark stands at 7.87 set at Kolkata in 1997. He had also registered a wind-aided 8.02m at Chennai in 2001.

Once again Railways had a good haul of medals for the third day running. Interestingly, the Railway ladies swept all medals in three events, shot put, pole vault and 3,000m steeplechase.

The results: Men: 3,000m steeplechase: 1. Omprakash (Ser) 8:48.06s, 2. Arun D’Souza (Rly) 8:49.24, 3. Elam Singh (Ser) 8:52.15. Long jump: 1. Shiv Shankar Yadav (Rly) 7.73m, 2. Shamsher Pratap Singh (Pun) 7.42, 3. Rajeev Kumar (Pol) 7.35. Discus: 1. Harpreet (Del) 52.24m, 2. Krishna Kumar Sharma (Bih) 52.06, 3. Sukhbir Singh (Pol) 51.84. Decathlon: 1. Jora Singh (Har) 6, 960 points, 2. Ramniwas (Rly) 6, 906, 3. Dayaram (Ser) 6,770.

Women: 3,000m steeplechase: 1. Sudha Singh (Rly) 10:18.76s (NR, previous 10:44.65s by S. Shanthi, Bangalore, 2005), 2. Kiran Tiwary (Rly) 10:50.12, 3. Kamlesh Bhagal (Rly) 11:03.90. Pole Vault: 1. V.S. Surekha (Rly) 3.75m, 2. Chetna Solanki (Rly) 3.60, 3. R. Jisha (Rly) 3.40. Shot put: 1. Manpreet Kaur (Rly) 13.62m, 2. N. Latha (Rly) 13.06, 3. Saraswathi (Rly) 13.05. 20 km walk: 1. Y. Bala Devi (Rly) 1:47:08.04s, 2. Manjusha C.N. (Rly) 1:48:44.46, 3. L. Sharda Devi (Pol) 1:51:42.16.