The Hindu : Sport / Olympic Games : Indian heptathletes reduced to bringing up the rear

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 17, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport - Olympic Games

Indian heptathletes reduced to bringing up the rear

Special Correspondent

BEIJING: The three Indian heptathletes could not manage to haul themselves up on the second day of the competition for a decent finish in the Olympics on Saturday. Indian athletics’ misery at Bird’s Nest thus continued with no immediate relief in sight as J. J. Shobha, Pramila Aiyappa and Susmita Singha Roy finished way below among the 35 finishers from 43 starters.

The disappointments were not just confined to heptathlon. Discus thrower Vikas Gowda and woman quarter-miler Mandeep Kaur were eliminated from their events without creating a flutter.

Having crossed 6000 points at home enabling them to qualify for the Olympics, the Indian heptathletes could have been expected to put up their best. In the event, no one touched even 5800 and there was no personal best. Shobha had created a sensation in Athens by coming in 11th with 6172 despite an injury.

There were no such heroics here. The best among the three happened to be Pramila Aiyappa, 31, who staged a surprise comeback at Madurai and then, along with Susmita Singha Roy, qualified at the Combined Events National at Bangalore. She finished 28th with 5771. Shobha had 5749 for the 30th slot while Susmita compiled 5705 for her 33rd place.

Poor long jump

A poor long jump of 5.86 metres pushed Shobha down the placings after six events this morning while Pramila and Susmita slightly improved their positions with efforts of 6.11m and 5.98m respectively.

Shobha has a best of 6.66 in long jump. There was no recovery after that for the National record holder though she did make a good effort in the javelin (43.50m). There was no will to fight back in the 800 metres, hopelessly placed as the Indians were.

At home Pramila had topped the chart with a 6078, Shobha came next with 6043 and Susmita third at 6027. Shobha had two months to recover after her qualifying effort while the other two had just a month.

Falling short

Vikas Gowda could have been expected to halt the miserable run of the Indians. The US-based Karnataka star could not live up to expectations for a second time in the Olympics. He had a best of 60.69m on his last attempt in the discus qualifying round. He had opened with a 59.58, fouled next and then came up with his best which eventually gave him the 11th place in his group and 22nd overall.

The top 12 made the final and that included six athletes who had achieved the automatic qualification mark of 64.50m. Iranian Ehsan Hadadi, who had posted a new Asian record of 69.32m at Tallinn last June, could have been expected to make the grade, but finished seventh in Gowda’s group with 61.34 and failed.

The 25-year-old Gowda who won the Asian silver in Incheon in 2005, behind Hadadi, had a season best of 64.83 and had three other throws over 62 metres. The 6-foot 9-inch Indian had won the NCAA title in 2006, and was generally expected to fulfil his promise at least by making the final here. He had finished 14th overall in Athens (61.39) four years ago.

Mandeep eliminated

Mandeep Kaur, who had taken sensational strides this season, first with a 51.80 seconds in Ukraine and then 51.74 in the Madurai inter-State meet, finished sixth in a heat containing seven runners, in the first round of the women’s 400m and was eliminated.

It is very rarely that Indian athletes perform well in individual events on the track at the Olympics, but Mandeep’s remarkable jump from a previous best of 53.34 to 51.80 might have given some hope of at least a second-round entry.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport