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PHOTO CH. VIJAYA BHASKAR
Gutsy feat Athletes showcase their prowess at the 23rd junior national athletic championship in Vijayawada
In a short span of three years, the city has once again showcased its organizational ability by successfully hosting the 23rd Reliance Junior National Athletic Championship. The event had scores of athletes from all over the country exhibiting their
prowess in the track and field events for four days in a row. The sprawling Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation stadium wore a special look with a series of cultural programmes, skydiving and some superlative performances by the future champions of the country.
Former Asian Games medallist and Arjuna awardee Suresh Babu, who incidentally is also the chief coach for the junior India team, aptly brought the quality of preparation at the stadium to the fore. “The track looks fast and we can expect many records. The pits are also of international standards,” he remarked.
Suresh Babu’s prophesy proved right as eight new meet records were created and an outstanding feat was stored on the last day when Haryana’s Sudhir Kumar leapt to a distance of 7.33 metres to set a national record. A couple of athletes also bettered the existing records.
Right prophecy
However, it was the boys and girls from Kerala who took away the honours by hauling a bagful of medals (77 in total) and thus emerging the overall champions. “The boys and girls are from poor families and their only motto is to make it big in life through athletics,” said Suresh Babu.
Not lagging behind were Andhra Pradesh athletes, who finished fourth with 26 medals and athletes like Asha Mary, P. Trinadh, Qureshi, Pavan Kumar proved the critics wrong with their gold medal-winning performances.
The overage menace surfaced yet again and after a thorough screening and medical test, as many as 77 athletes were banned for two years. “This is a recurring unpleasant incident.
Overage issue
Every year we sternly warn the State associations not to field overage athletes, but they ignore the warning. By fielding overage athletes we are depriving genuine athletes of the opportunity,” feels K. Ranga Rao, secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Athletic Association. The presence of Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, the champion hurdler of 60s, who took part in the Tokyo Olympics, was also a source of inspiration for many, as they interacted with him for tips. Keen on keeping the athletes in good humour, the organisers staged cultural events involving dancers and musicians who belted out peppy numbers and patriotic songs. The icing on the cake was the campfire, which saw the mehmaans (visitors) gyrating in gay abandon.
J. R. SHRIDHARAN
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Puducherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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