News28 May 2009


Aimin still on song - Asian Grand Prix-Leg II, Kunshan

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Song Aimin of China (© Getty Images)

Close contests, personal bests and season bests marked the second leg of the Asian Grand Prix here on Wednesday (27 May).

All three fixtures of the 2009 Asian GP – Suzhou, Kunshan and Hong Kong – are part of a select group of Area meetings at which points can be acquired by athletes to qualify for the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final, to be held on 12-13 September in Thessaloniki, Greece.

The script did not change much from Suzhou (23 May) with only Indian shot putter Om Prakash Singh and Uzbek high jumper Svetlana Radzivil displacing a champion from the first leg. In the rest of the 15 individual events the first-leg winners maintained their hold.

Chinese woman discus thrower Song Aimin continued her outstanding season, nailing the gold with a hefty throw that measured 64.40 metres, second only to her 64.83 that lead the world season’s lists until surpassed last weekend by Olympic champion Stephanie Brown Trafton (66.21m). The 31-year-old Chinese, who was fourth in the Beijing Olympics, had an inspiring series in Kunshan, 61.57, 63.44, 64.40, 63.45, 64.34 and 63.26.

Against such awesome display, the Indians naturally had to play second fiddle. Krishna Poonia did marginally better than the first leg with a throw of 57.89 that came in the fifth round while Seema Antil recorded a season best of 56.85 for the bronze.

One of the most impressive winners of the day was Chinese javelin thrower Qin Qiang. He improved upon his personal best from the previous leg (80.24) to 81.48 metres to outclass an ordinary field. The mark placed him within the top-10 in the world for the season, seventh to be precise. Korean Park Jae-Myoung (78.50) and Chinese Chen Qi (75.69) claimed the minor medals.

Remarkably, the 26-year-old Qin Qiang had only two valid throws, 75.95 in the second round and his gold-winning throw in the fifth. The man who had climbed from a season-opening 72.81 metres in Zhaoqing in April, fouled his first and third throws and passed the fourth and sixth. He now has three career marks over 80 metres (not counting those within a series), all achieved at home.

Korean Kim Deok-Hyung jumped a season best 17.06 metres in Triple Jump to post his second success in the circuit in a tough field. His winning jump came in the third round, the 23-year-old Korean falling short of his personal best by just one centimeter. He had two other jumps above 16.80. Kazakhs Yevgeniy Ektov (16.86) and Roman Valiyev (16.80) also registered their season bests while winning the silver and bronze.

Chinese Liu Xiaosheng also registered a season best 46.42 in the men’s 400 metres to edge the fast-improving Indian, Bibin Mathew (46.48) with two other Indians, V. B. Bineesh and Shake Mortaja taking the next two places in a modest field.

Indians swept the table in the men’s 5000m with Surendra Kumar Singh, gunning for the World Championships norm (13:29.00) falling short at 13:40.45, though it was an improvement over his PB of 13:45.77 clocked at Solihull, England, last season. Second-placed Kashinath Aswale (13:44.32) and bronze winner Sandeep Kumar (13:47.45) also clocked personal bests.

The duel between Shi Dongpeng and Xie Wenjun continued in the 110m Hurdles with experience prevailing over youth once again. Shi Dongpeng timed a season best 13.46 while the 18-year-old Xie Wenjun came in 13.72. Behind them, in a close fight for the bronze, Korean Park Tae-Kyong (13.97) beat Japanese Yukito Irie (14.00), who had skipped the opening leg at Suzhou.

Chinese Su Bingtian remained unchallenged in the men’s sprint (10.35 sec), the story being repeated in the women’s 100 metres where Uzbek Guzel Khubbieva demolished the field (11.31 sec).

Margarita Matsko had a PB of 2:02.83 in winning the women’s 800 metres.

The surprise in the women’s section was, however, was provided in the High Jump by Svetlana Radzivil, the 22-year-old Uzbek who upstaged the first-leg winner Nadezhda Dussanova (Uzbekistan) and others with a 1.88m first time clearance.

The jumpers never reached the heights they set in Suzhou, but the contest was absorbing all the same. Former Asian Games champion and joint continental record holder (1.97) Tatyana Effimenko (Kyrgyzstan) tied at 1.88 with Radzivil, but the latter having cleared that height on her first attempt compared to her rival’s third, the gold was the Uzbek’s. Both failed at 1.91. Dussanova, who had jumped 1.95 at Suzhou, faltered at 1.88 having cleared 1.84. Three others were also tied at 1.84, Thai Chaipech Noeng-ruthai, Chinese Zheng Xingjuan and Kazakh Anna Ustinova.

The third and final leg of the series will be held in Hong Kong on 30 May.

By an IAAF Correspondent

RESULTS

Men
100m: Race ‘A’: 1. Sun Bingtian (Chn) 10.35, 2. Abipitiyage Shehan Sadaruwan (Sri) 10.46, 3. Tsui Chiho (Hkg) 10.51.
Race ‘B’: 1. Apinan Sukaphai (Tha) 10.64, 2. Lau Yu Leong (Hkg) 10.64, 3. Attapol Prahammoon (Tha) 10.72.
400m: 1. Liu Xiaosheng (Chn) 46.42, 2. Bibin Mathew (Ind) 46.48, 3. V. B. Bineesh (Ind) 47.12.
800m: 1. Mohammed Al-Azemi (Kuw) 1:48.74, 2. Sadjad Moradi (Iri) 1:49.28, 3. Li Xiangyu (Chn) 1:49.54.
5000m: 1. Surendra Singh (Ind) 13:40.45, 2. Kashinath Aswale (Ind) 13:44.32, 3. Sandeep Kumar (Ind) 13:47.45.
110m hurdles: 1. Shi Dongpeng (Chn) 13.46, 2. Xie Wenjun (Chn) 13.72, 3. Park Tae-Kyoung (Kor) 13.97.
High jump: 1. Lee Hup Wei (Mas) 2.24, 2. Sergey Zasimovich (Kaz) 2.22, 3. Hari Shankar Roy (Ind) 2.15.
Triple jump: 1. Kim Deok-Hyung (Kor) 17.06, 2. Sergey Ektov (Kaz) 16.86, 3. Roman Valiyev (Kaz) 16.80.
Shot put: 1. Om Prakash Singh (Ind) 19.48, 2. Chang Ming-Huang (Tpe) 19.28, 3. Saurabh Vij (Ind) 18.67.
Javelin: 1. Qin Qiang (Chn) 81.48, 2. Park Jae-Myoung (Kor) 78.50, 3. Chen Qi (Chn) 75.69.
4x100m relay: 1. China 39.55, 2. Hong Kong 39.93, 3. Indonesia 41.27.

Women
100m: Race ‘A’: 1. Guzel Khubbieva (Uzb)11.31, 2. Tao Yujia (Chn) 11.61, 3. H. M. Jyothi (Ind) 11.67. Race ‘B’: 1. Orrnaut Klomdee (Tha)11.68, 2. Sangwan Jaksunin (Tha) 11.81, 3.Tassaporn Wannakit (Tha) 11.96.
400m: 1. Marina Maslenko (Kaz) 52.68, 2. Chandrika Subhashini (Sri) 53.55, 3. Huang Xiaoxiao (Chn) 53.55.
800m: 1. Margarita Matsko (Kaz) 2:02.83, 2. Truong Thanh Hang (Vie) 2:03.28, 3. Liu Qing (Chn) 2:03.91.
100m hurdles: 1. Natalya Ivoninskaya (Kaz) 13.11, 2. Sun Yawei (Chn) 13.15, 3. Erawati Dedeh (Ina) 13.23.
High jump: 1. Svetlana Radzivil (Uzb) 1.88, 2. Tatyana Effimenko (Kgz) 1.88, 3. Nadezhda Dussanova (Uzb) 1.84.
Triple jump: 1. Xie Limei (Chn)14.13, 2. Thitima Muangjan (Tha) 13.65, 3. Aleksandra Kotlyarova (Uzb) 13.62.
Shot put: 1. Gong Lijiao (Chn) 19.25, 2. Li Meiju (Chn) 18.20, 3.Leyla Rajabi (Iri) 17.25.
Discus: 1. Song Aimin (Chn) 64.40, 2. Krishna Poonia (Ind) 57.89, 3. Seema Antil (Ind) 56.85.
4x100m relay: 1. China 44.53, 2. Thailand 44.75, 3. Indonesia 46.61.

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