Friday, Oct 11, 2002
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Asian Games
By K. P. Mohan
India's Sunita Rani (669) leading the pack on her way to the women's 1,500m gold in the Asian Games in Busan on Thursday. Right: Neelam J. Singh of India, who claimed the women's discus gold. — Photos: V. Sudershan
Though India opened its fourth-day medal hunt with a bonus of a gold medal through Saraswati Saha, in the 200 metres, courtesy the last-minute pull-out by the favourite, Susanthika Jayasinghe, there were two outstanding efforts by Sunita Rani and Neelam Jaswant Singh later to swell the Indian hearts and the golden tally. Both were achieved with new Games records and National records, in the women's 1,500m and discus throw respectively. Another gold, late afternoon, might have been forecast by the Indian camp, that for K.M. Beenamol in the 400m. But the Kerala girl was realistically never the favourite against Damayanthi Darsha. As it turned out, the Sri Lankan scored a shut-out with a world-class timing of 51.13s that constituted a Games mark. The silver was Beenamol's with some difficulty against the challenge posed by Kazakh Svetlana Bodritskaya while Jincy Philip ended up fourth. India's tally, at the end of day four in athletics, stood at 12, six of them gold, five of them by the women.For someone making a comeback to this level after a two-year gap, Sunita Rani ran the metric mile with the confidence of a champion. She ran as though this was a National-level race, leaving her opponents behind, well before the race had got into the `kick' and scramble mode. The main difference was in the change of tempo into the second lap, a sudden spurt that rattled the others and left the majority hopelessly placed even before the race had warmed up. It was a deliberate ploy. ``The idea was to run the first 300 in about 48 seconds. It was 50 plus when I looked up the timer. Then I decided that I should go faster,'' said Sunita later. Madhuri Singh, India's second entry in the event, sacrificed herself by hitting the front straightaway and keeping up the lead for one lap. After that she was never in contention for the silver and before long went out of the medals bracket as well. The girl from Sanam, Punjab, was nearly 40m ahead at the finish, in 4:06.03, bettering her own National record of 4:08.1, clocked in Bangalore in 1999. To say that Sunita was the favourite for the gold in the 1,500m will be an understatement. With the Chinese women, especially on the track, looking listless as never before, there could be no one who could put up a reasonable fight against the Indian. For some inexplicable reason, Sunita looked tense as she talked to Indian mediamen inside the interview room. She mumbled something about being very happy and that was about all. Based on her performance this day, Sunita should have an even chance for a medal, the gold not beyond her reach, in the 5,000m when the athletics programme resumes on Saturday after a day of rest tomorrow. Neelam bags discus gold Neelam J. Singh surprised herself with a second-round throw of 64.55m in discus. "Having not done that kind of distance in competitions abroad, I was also surprised,'' confided Neelam later. The 31-year-old Hoshiarpur woman, mother of an eight-year-old boy, had as good as won the gold with that throw. The rest of the field, including Chinese Song Aimin and Ma Shuli, both of whom had beaten Neelam in the Asian Grand Prix circuit earlier this season, just could not handle the pressure of facing such a challenge. ``With this effort, I have silenced those who have been saying that I don't perform in competitions abroad,'' said Neelam.Neelam could not cross 60m with her subsequent efforts on Thursday, the best among them being a 59.23 on her fifth attempt. Song Aimin took the silver with 61.80m. She had a 61.38 and a 60.20 as well. Ma Shuli claimed the bronze with 59.89 while Harwant Kaur, India's second entry, came fourth at 58.31m. Stunning display from Saraswati Saraswati Saha's gold in the 200m was not only a bonus but also a surprise. Even without Jayasinghe, who complained of a hamstring strain and tried herself out at the warm-up track before deciding to quit, the gold was in no way Saraswati's for the asking since there were others who could have denied her. In the event, the Bengal girl, once she made up a slight gap that Uzbek Lyubov Perepelova had built up, consuming the stagger, was never really troubled. She held her poise and rhythm through the final 50m so well that there were no doubts as to who was going to win. Saraswati clocked 23.28s, well below her best for the season, that of 22.82s. This happened to be the first gold medal for the country in the event since P.T. Usha won in Seoul, not very far from here, 16 years ago. Usha was on hand to congratulate Saraswati. The Indian great of yesteryears was prompt in congratulating Damayanthi Darsha as well, later, as she won the 400m untroubled. The Sri Lankan gave such a commanding performance that there could be no debate about Beenamol's chances. The Kerala girl was almost caught up nearing the line by Bodritskaya. Darsha timed 51.13s, the best in Asia for the season and a Games record, bettering Chinese Ma Yuqin's 1994 record of 51.17s. The highlight of the day was the completion of the distance double by the 22-year-old Saudi Arabian Armyman Moukhled Al-Otaibi, a gymnast-turned athlete. He destroyed the field with a home-straight surge in the 5,000m. Only Khamis Seif Abdullah of Qatar, the man who beat him over the same distance at the West Asia Games earlier this season, was able to put up a fight. But not good enough to bother Al-Otaibi. Chinese Qi Haifeng, unlucky to miss the gold in the Colombo Asian championships as he suffered an injury after nine events, posted an Asian junior record in decathlon, at 8,041 points. He bettered his own mark of 8,030, set in the Chinese National championships in June. Shingo Suetsugu broke the lean spell for Japan, by winning the men's 200m, as expected, in an excellent 20.38s, only bettered by his own 20.37s this season. Korean veteran Lee Jin-Taek won the high jump gold, at 2.23m, with the silver being shared by three, Chinese Wang Zhouzhou and Cui Kai and Korean Kim Tae-Hoi, all tied at 2.19m, with the countback showing the same record for all. Gulab Chand, who could not finish the 10,000m and was subsequently withdrawn from the 5000m, had been asked to go home by the first available flight. In yet another episode of trials at Asian Games venues, the women's 1,600m relay runners, barring Jincy Philip, who finished fourth in the 400m today, and Beenamol were asked to go through a trial. Manjit Kaur won with Soma Biswas second, Manjima Kuriakose third and S. Geetha fourth. The last two will now remain in the reserves. Originally, Manjima was expected to complete the line-up. The Indian men's 4x100m relay team of Anil Kumar, Piysuh Kumar, Clifford Joshua and Sanjay Ghosh qualified for the final with a 39.71s, while Anuradha Biswal was fourth in the 100m hurdles, clocking 13.46s. Friday is a rest day in athletics. The results: Men: 200m: 1. Shingo Suetsugu (Jpn) 20.38s, 2. Gennadiy Chernovol (Kaz) 20.57, 3. Yang Yaozu (Chn) 20.58; 5,000m: 1. Makhloud Al-Otaibi (KSA) 13:41.48s, 2. Abdulhak Zakaria (Brn) 13:43.82, 3. Khamis Seif Abdullah (Qat) 13:44.42; High jump: 1. Lee Jin-Taek (Kor) 2.23m, 2. Wang Zhouzhou (Chn), Cui Kai (Chn) and Kim Tae-Hoi (Kor) 2.19; Decathlon: 1. Qi Haifeng (Chn) 8041 pts, 2. Dmitry Karpov (Kaz) 7,995, 3. Ahmad Hassan Moussa (Qat) 7,683. Women: 200m: 1. Saraswati Saha (Ind) 23.28s, 2. Ni Xiaoli (Chn) 23.34, 3. Viktoriya Kovyreva (Kaz) 23.48; 400m: 1. K.V. Damayanthi Darsha (Sri) 51.13s (GR, old 51.17), 2. K.M. Beenamol (Ind) 52.04, 3. Svetlana Bodritskaya (Kaz) 52.10; 1,500m: 1. Sunita Rani (Ind) 4:06.03s (GR, old 4:12.48), 2. Tatiana Borisova (Kgz) 4:12.53, 3. Yoshiko Ichikawa (Jpn) 4:13.42; 100m hurdles: 1. Feng Yun (Chn) 12.96s, 2. Su Yiping (Chn) 13.01, 3. Trecia Roberts (Tha) 13.07; Discus: 1. Neelam J. Singh (Ind) 64.55m (GR, 63.56), 2. Song Aimin (Chn) 61.80, 3. Ma Shuli (Chn) 59.89.
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