Preeja Sreedharan, triple victor at national games (© S.S. Ram)
Sreedharan Preeja from the state of Kerala took a rare treble at distance running events at the 33rd National Games, as the athletics programme concluded here on Thursday (15 Feb).
Fifth at both 5000m and 10,000m at last year’s Asian Games, Preeja improved the national mark thrice at the latter event in 2006, capped with a personal best of 33:48.45 in Doha. Incredibly she competed in both the Mile and the 10,000m within a span of two and 1/2 hours on the opening day of the athletic competitions on Sunday (11), eventually winning both with modest 4:38.38 and 36:09.30 clockings.
The South Asian Games champion over 10,000m at Colombo last year, Preeja pocketed her third gold medal here with ease on the fifth and final day today by winning the 5000m in 17:01.79 pushing aside a late challenge from the fancied Madhuri Gurnule of Maharashtra.
A double for Arunjith
Another Kerala athlete, Sivadasan Nair Arunjith, the 2005 national junior champion, who already snatched a senior title by winning the 200m in last year’s Inter-State championships at Chennai, won that event here too. Fresh from his double-gold victory in the Indian inter-university meet at Bangalore last month, Arunjith appeared cool and annexed the sprint double with his fertile effort. His finest effort came in the 200m, which he virtually dominated on a wet track on the penultimate day. “The newly laid Polyton track is an athlete’s delight”, Arunjith said after his victory. Trained under coach Udayakumar in SAI Centre at Kollam, the young athlete has a bright future.
Multi-event specialist J.J. Shobha of Andhra Pradesh had no challenge in the Long Jump and hence added the additional gold to her Heptathlon title to make it two. Haryana thrower Saroj Kumari Sihaj was another athlete to win a double as she claimed Shot Put and Discus Throw titles.
Local stars dazzle
Javelin thrower Pragjyoti Baishya took that throw title 69.99m for the crown. Other home state athletes also took gold medals by winning the 20,000m track race walks. Deepamala Devai clocked a new Games Record of 1:41:07.2 to win the women’s race, while a day later Sushil Kumar Singh took the men’s event.
Somendro Singh of Services had been named as victor in this event with Sushil Kumar penciled second. However the Assam officials lodged a protest and a video recording was sought by the jury, which proved the Services athlete actually completed one lap shorter than the home walker.
Difficult conditions
The 33rd edition of the National Games had conducted under difficult circumstances. The state of Assam underwent frequent attacks from terrorists and drug traffickers from across the border.
The organizers were able to convince the main insurgency group - United Liberation Front of Assam - for an Olympic type “Truce” during the Games’ period. However, some other rebel group set off a bomb-blast, hours before the official opening of the National Games on 9th February. Further, some of the athletes travelled from the village to a sporting arena had met with a road accident and escaped with injuries.
The Athletics Federation of India kept some leading athletes in training camps at Patiala, while a group of nine elite women athletes were left for a training-cum-competition programme at South Africa, and many other top athletes, including long jumper Anju Bobby George, opted to stay away from the National Games citing off-season training or rest.
Notwithstanding the difficulties, absence and other aspects, as much as 700 brave athletes from 35 states and the military-services team took part.
Ram. Murali Krishnan for the IAAF
Results:
Men:
100m (12):
1. S. Arunjith (Kerala) 10.66; 2. Jagdish Basak (Assam) 10.70; 3. Vishal Saxena (Uttar Pradesh) 10.73;
200m (14):
1. S. Arunjith (Ker) 21.32; 2. Vishal Saxena (UP) 21.62; 3. P. Muthusamy (Tamil Nadu) 21.66;
400m (12):
1. Bipin Mathew (Madhya Pradesh) 47.34; 2. Virendra Kumar Pankaj (UP) 47.94; 3. Vinay Choudhary (UP) 48.19;
800m (15):
1. Sajeesh Joseph (Ker) 1:50.94; 2. R. Rajeev (Ker) 1:51.19; 3. C. Hamza (Services) 1:51.56;
1,500m (11):
1. C. Hamza (Ser) 3:47.51; 2. Sunil Kumar (Jharkhand) 3:48.28; 3. P. Trinath (Andhra Pradesh) 3:48.70;
5,000m (15):
1. Sunil Kumar (Jhar) 14:17.74 (NMR); 2. Surender Singh (Ser) 14:17.93; 3. Kashinath Aswale (Jhar) 14:18.86;
10,000m (11):
1. Kashinath Aswale (Jhar) 29:39.94 (NMR); 2. Surender Singh (Ser) 29:40.16; 3. S. Raghunath (TN) 29:40.94;
3,000m Steeple (12):
1. Om Prakash (Ser) 9:01.89; 2. Sachin Patil (Maharashtra) 9:02.36; 3. Arun D’Souza (AP) 9:03.85;
110m Hurdles (12):
1. P. Muthusamy (TN) 14.61; 2. A. Karuppasamy (TN) 14.93; 3. K.A. Harish (Ker) 15.01;
400m Hurdles (14):
1. Joseph G. Abraham (Ker) 51.62; 2. P. Shankar (AP) 52.70; 3. Avin A. Thomas (Ker) 52.79;
High Jump (12):
1. Harishankar Roy (West Bengal) 2.14 (NMR); 2. Benedict Starli (TN) 2.14; 3. Prince Jose (Ker) 2.05;
Pole Vault (13):
1. R. Ranjith Kumar (TN) 4.80; 2. Geesh Kumar (Ker) 4.70; 3. K. Shuju (Ser) 4.70;
Long Jump (12):
1. Shivshankar Yadav (UP) 7.58; 2. Shamsher Pratap Singh (Punjab) 7.56; 3. Amrit Pal Singh (Pun) 7.41;
Triple Jump (15);
1. Alex Thomas (Ser) 16.45; 2. M. Renjith (Ker) 16.32; 3. Bibu Mathew (Ser) 16.32;
Shot Put (11):
1. Navpreet Singh (Pun) 18.60; 2. Sukhdev Singh (Pun) 17.62; 3. Satyender Singh (UP) 17.34;
Discus Throw (12):
1. Rambir Singh (Ser) 51.76; 2. Amritpal Singh (Pun) 51.52; 3. Vipendera Singh (Ser) 49.86;
Hammer Throw (15):
1. Rakesh Kumar (UP) 64.45; 2. Nirbhay Singh (Ser) 60.97; 3. Talwinder Singh (Pun) 59.63;
Javelin Throw (11):
1. Pragjyoti Baishya (Asm) 69.99; 2. Gajender Kumar (UP) 69.91; 3. Arun Kumar Patel (UP) 69.89;
Decathlon (13-14):
1. Jora Singh (Haryana) 6712; 2. P.J. Vinod (Ker) 6642; 3. Mandeep Kumar (AP) 6444;
Marathon (15):
1. Lyngkoi Binning (Ser) 2:17:32 (NMR); 2. Satya Prakash (Ser) 2:20:38; 3. Vikram Singh (Ser) 2:20:38;
20,000m Walk (14):
1. O. Sunilkumar Singh (Asm) 1:31:32.73; 2. P.S. Jalan (Ser) 1:31:37.73; 3. Gurmeet Singh (Asm) 1:31:40.79;
4 x 100m Relay (15):
1. Andhra Pradesh 46.91; 2. Kerala 47.88; 3. West Bengal 48.05;
4 x 400m Relay (15):
1. Kerala 3:12.01; 2. Punjab 3:12.57; 3. Services 3:12.91;
Women:
100m (12):
1. Vineeta Sahni (UP) 11.92; 2. H.M. Jyothi (AP) 11.94; 3. Rakhi Saha (WB) 12.19;
200m (14):
1. H.M. Jyothi (AP) 24.52; 2. Rakhi Saha (WB) 25.32; 3. R. Elavarasi (TN) 25.38;
400m (12):
1. Jasmine Joseph (Ker) 54.74; 2. S. Anbu Vimala (TN) 56.14; 3. K. Mrudula (AP) 56.17;
800m (15):
1. Vijila (Ker) 2:11.77; 2. Sutapa Das (WB) 2:13.14; 3. Jhuma Khatun (WB) 2:14.21;
1,500m (11):
1. Preeja Sreedharan (Ker) 4:38.38; 2. Jhuma Khatun (WB) 4:38.75; 3. Iqbal Kaur (Pun) 4:40.19;
5,000m (15):
1. Preeja Sreedharan (Ker) 17:01.79; 2. Madhuri Gurnule (Mah) 17:02.20; 3. Preethi Rao (Jhar) 17:02.83;
10,000m (11):
1. Preeja Sreedharan (Ker) 36:09.30; 2. Preethi Rao (Jhar) 36:10.93; 3. Madhuri Gurnule (Mah) 36:17.33;
3,000m Steeple (12):
1. Sudha Singh (UP) 10:56.35; 2. Kamlesh Baghal (UP) 10:57.76; 3. Kiran Tiwari (Uttaranchal) 11:23.75;
100m Hurdles (12):
1. Poonam Bojanna (Karnataka) 14.09; 2. Anuradha Biswal (Orissa) 14.09; 3. P. Lakshmi (TN) 14.58;
400m Hurdles (14):
1. V. Leelavathi (TN) 1:01.74; 2. Leena Cherian (Ker) 1:02.23; 3. Harpreet Kaur (Pun) 1:03.46;
High Jump (15):
1. Sahana Kumari (Jhar) 1.73; 2. Kavya Muthanna (Karn) 1.70; 3. Sushmita Singharoy (WB) 1.70;
Pole Vault (11):
1. V.S. Surekha (TN) 3.85 (NMR); 2. Madhushini Devi (UP) 3.60; 3. Geetanjali Bora (Asm) 3.50;
Long Jump (11):
1. J.J. Shobha (AP) 5.98; 2. Anisha K. Vijayan (Ker) 5.95; 3. M.A. Prajusha (Ker) 5.88;
Triple Jump (13):
1. Anisha K. Vijayan (Ker) 13.26; 2. Mayookha Johny (Ker) 12.84; 3. M.A. Prajusha (Ker) 12.38;
Shot Put (13):
1. Saroj Sihaj (Har) 14.47; 2. Manpreet Kaur (Pun) 13.84; 3. Patwant Kaur (Pun) 13.59;
Discus Throw (15);
1. Saroj Sihaj (Har) 50.72; 2. Priyanka Bhanot (Delhi) 42.75; 3. Aplesh Yadav (Har) 38.71;
Hammer Throw (13):
1. Hardeep Kaur (Pun) 59.71; 2. Ritu Rani (UP) 57.70; 3. Sukanya Mishra (UP) 52.07;
Javelin Throw (13):
1. S. Saraswathi (TN) 45.93; 2. Neesha Rani (Har) 45.64; 3. Megha Pardeshi (Mah) 45.02;
Heptathlon (12-13):
1. J.J. Shobha (AP) 5141; 2. Sushmita Singharoy (WB) 5088; 3. V. Leelavathi (TN) 5060;
20,000m Walk (13):
1. L. Deepamala Devi (Asm) 1:41:07.2 (NMR); 2. Amandeep Kaur (Pun) 1:43:43.7; 3. W. Lamganbi Devi (Manipur) 1:49:06.7;
4 x 100m Relay (15):
1. Kerala 41.07; 2. Tamil Nadu 41.17; 3. Andhra Pradesh 41.31;
4 x 400m Relay (150:
1. Andhra Pradesh 3:44.76; 2. Kerala 3:45.85; 3. Tamil Nadu 3:47.74
