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Andhra shines
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No decent sand track, but grit prevails
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True grit J.J. Shobha
The beaming face of veteran
athletics official
K. Ranga Rao, secretary
of Andhra Pradesh
Amateur Athletics Association
(APAAA), said it all the
other day. For someone
who is invariably given the
rough end of the stick by
officials of the Sports Authority
of Andhra Pradesh
(SAAP) every time he organises
a preparatory camp
for the State athletes for the
Nationals, he has reason to
be on cloud nine. Not surprisingly,
he had the last
laugh recently when the
State athletes recorded a
`rare double' in the Madurai
national inter-state athletics
meet.
Heptathlete J. J. Shobha
redefined the levels of excellence
any Indian woman
athlete can aspire for by
qualifying for the Beijing
Olympics. In the process,
she booked her second
straight appearance in the
Olympics. Another Andhra
athlete, Krishna Mohan,
relatively unfancied, rewrote
the 110-m hurdles national
record clocking
14.00, eclipsing the previous
record of Naunidh
Singh (14.05) set in Hyderabad
in 2005. The 26-yearold
Artillery havildar and a
native of Guntur can well be
the new star on the athletics
horizon.
These two outstanding
achievements coupled with
that of P. Shankar, who
picked yet another national
gold in his pet event, 400 m
hurdles (50.89), also put into
perspective how sportspersons
from the State can
display grit despite being
denied training facilities at
the magnificent Gachibowli
Complex.
Not long ago, SAAP demanded
the Association
should pay rental for the
training period. This, naturally,
forced officials and
athletes look for familiar
terrains at the Gymkhana
and Railway Recreation
Club grounds. That these
athletes do not even have a
decent sand track to train
regularly is a sad reflection
of the kind of concern the
sports administrators show
for them. And this, in a year
when the Olympics are to
be held.
Yet, these untiring athletes
continue to keep their
spirits high.
The athlete feels the emphasis
on speed and endurance
in Ukraine were the
clinching factors. "Definitely,
there is a lot of scope for
improvement.
V. V. SUBRAHMANYAM
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