Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Hope in his sprint
|
Trinath is practising hard to bring home an Asian Games gold
|
PHOTO: D.GOPALAKRISHNAN
GUNNING FOR GOLD Pandala Trinath on his run.
Pandala Trinath arrived on the athletics horizon with a bang, overhauling the National inter zonal half mile record for boys under 16 years at Kolkata, clocking a minute and 56.36 seconds. Barely a month before, in August 2002, his record breaking 2000 metre gold in the junior south zone championships was a sign of things to come.
Later in the year and still a 13-year-old, he was unfazed when competing in the boys under 18 years 2000 metre race of the junior National championships at Shimoga, Karnataka, where he struck gold again in the 2 km run. The 800 metre gold was his too.
The gold rush continued. Soon, school-level triumphs held little charm for him, as he concentrated his efforts increasingly on the 800 and 1500 m. In the National youth games at the Sree Kanteerva Stadium, Bangalore, in May 2005, the long-limbed youth erased the half mile record.
The desire to establish new milestones was driven into Trinath by his coach at the Andhra Pradesh Sports School, Ratan Kumar Bose. "Aim for the records not the medals," his mentor would urge him. Quick to correct his ward's errors, Bose, who'd served earlier at Lal Bahadur Stadium, draws up Trinath's training programme himself, explaining its finer points during its execution.
The two are more like friends and the confidence the pupil has in pedagogue and vice-versa is implicit. Bose takes it upon himself to minutely observe higher age group runners, for invariably it's that Trinath targets. To date, the 17-year-old's cache of precious metal is quite impressive— 26 gold, a silver and three bronze medals. With an eye on the junior Asiad in China next month, Trinath will need all the experience and expertise he's garnered in three national camps, two of them in Patiala and one at Delhi.
He's a little low on luck though, stricken by jaundice about a fortnight before a world junior championship in Canada a couple of years ago. He missed making the squad for Morocco this year by a whisker. It was just by chance that the native of Viduruparthy, five kms from the jaggery town of Anakapalle, stumbled into this sport. He'd taken part in a school meet because the physical education teacher had asked him to. That earned him selection to the A.P. Sports School in Hakimpet. His father, P. Yellaiah Naidu and big brother Visweshwar Rao, stood by him through thick and thin.
For the moment, he intends qualifying in the trials for the junior Asian championships while in the long term, he hopes for an Asian Games medal.
A. JOSEPH ANTONY
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
|
