Al-Sabee long jumping at the Paris World championships (© Gatty Images)
Manila, PhilippinesThe 15th Asian Championships (20 -23 September) will get underway at the Rizal Memorial Stadium here on Saturday. In the second part of our preview we concentrate on the Field Events.
Missing will be Japan’s star hammer thrower Koji Murofushi. A disappointing bronze in Paris, followed by a more disappointing fourth place in the World Athletics Final in Szombathely has obviously discouraged Murofushi from competing again at the end of a long-winding season. Moreover he has been nursing an injury, too. His absence should make countryman Hiroaki Doi, the silver winner at Colombo last year, the favourite for the title, though his personal best of 73.33 recorded this season, is dwarfed by Murofushi’s year’s best and continental record of 84.86m, set in Prague in June.
Compensating for the absence of the top Japanese field eventer should be the presence of Chinese Qi Haifeng and Kazakhstan’s Dmitry Karpov in the Combined Events. Both these Decathletes posted new National records in Paris, Karpov settling for the bronze with 8374 points after leading on the opening day. Qi Haifeng, on the other hand, ended up seventh with 8126. The Chinese, just 19 last year, had the disappointment of pulling out in Colombo in the 1500m after having led till the last event. He duly won in the Busan Asian Games, ahead of Karpov. Manila is going to be an interesting battleground, a sort of Goliath v Goliath.
Hussein Taher Al-Sabee’s Long Jump silver in the World Athletics Final, with his second career best distance of 8.30m, has given a fresh boost to long jumping standards in Asia. The Saudi Arabian has won the last two Asian titles and the last Asian Games and now it will only be a question of whether and when he would be able to break the Asian record of 8.40m set by Chinese Lao Jianfeng in 1997. The Mike Powell-trained Al-Sabee who finished fifth in the Worlds, is expected to be in the fray in Manila.
Another of Powell’s trainees and India’s first medal winner in the World championships, Anju Bobby George, has reportedly pulled out of the women’s event, saying that she was too tired after the Worlds and the World Athletics Finals. In her absence, Kazakhstan’s Yelena Kashcheyeva, her main foe last year, should be the favourite for the women’s Long Jump despite a poor performance in Paris where she failed to get past the qualifying round, reaching just 6.13m.
Chinese Liang Shuyan who had a 6.69m last year, as the rival to watch out for apart from Filipino Lerma Gabito, the surprise silver medallist at Colombo last year. With the home crowd rooting for her, Gabita should be an inspired performer.
The Indian arsenal looks rather bare this time, though Discus thrower Neelam J. Singh, a finalist in Paris, should run Chinese Song Aimin close in the duel for the gold. High jumper Bobby Aloysius, after a stint under English coach Denis Doyle, looks good enough for a medal.
Bar the Hammer, and to a lesser extent Discus, the men’s throws have hit a plateau in Asia. From the 20-metre-plus putts witnessed in the shot put circle in 2000, the levels have come down to 19-plus. Qatari Saad Bilal Mubarak has a season best of 19.11, Indian Shakti Singh 18.70 and Chinese Wang Zhiyong 18.86. China might not enter a contestant in this event, however.
Asian Games Discus champion Wu Tao has a 63.68 this season. He should be the man to beat. Iranian Abbas Samimi, after a series of National records early season, culminating with a 62.60 in Bangkok, has not been in the news since then. Indian Anil Kumar, training at Szombatheley has not really lived up to his potential, with a season best of only 59.44m.
Amidst the mediocrity, Chinese Javelin thrower Li Rongxiang produced a season best 81.76 in Paris. His closest challenger, Uzbek Sergey Voynov who swept the Asian GP titles, could manage only 76.66 at the Worlds. Obviously these two should be the main contenders for the gold along with Japanese Yukifumi Murakami. The Chinese had won both at Colombo and Busan last year.
The women’s throws used to be so overwhelmingly dominated by the Chinese, so much so that in the past one did not look for others in spotting the gold medal contenders. However, the last two Asian Games and Asian Championships have changed that trend.
China looks poised to strike back with a vengeance, with Li Meiju (Shot Put 18.96), Song Aimin (Discus 65.33), Gu Yuan (Asian Hammer record of 72.03 at Shanghai on Sept 12) and Ma Ning (Javelin-62.38) heading the Asian season’s charts. Lists and rankings maybe turned upside down when the actual competitions get underway, but the Chinese women throwers do look solid.
If at all there could be some opposition to the Chinese women it could be from one of their erstwhile team-mates. Shot putter Du Xianhui, now seeking to represent Singapore, was second in the Asian lists last year, with an 18.67. She won all the Asian GP legs this season with her season best of 18.38 coming in Hyderabad, India. It is not certain, at the time of writing, whether Du Xianhui would be eligible to represent Singapore in this Asian meet. In the eventual analysis, it might not really matter to the Chinese. Their depth of talent is such that a larger share of the medals becomes a matter of routine.
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