News06 Jul 2007


Poovamma to lead a 14 member Indian Team to Ostrava

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Raju Poovamma after her sprint double at the Indian Youth Championships (© Ram. Murali Krishnan)

New Delhi, IndiaThe Athletics Federation of India will send a team of 14 athletes consisting of six boys and eight girls to the World Youth Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Machettira Raju Poovamma who already represented her country at last year’s IAAF World Junior Championships at Beijing leads the team. Jose Anu Mariam, who was part of the national relay quartet at Beijing, will also be making it to Ostrava.   

Poovamma clocked career best timings of 24.5 and 54.7 while winning the 200m and 400m races at the Youth Nationals at Bangalore last month.  In the absence of a photo-finish system, the above marks went unnoticed.  A determined Poovamma went on to clock a seasonal best 55.30 for a bronze medal in the first leg of Asian Grand Prix series at Bangkok, Thailand, on 19 June.   Her personal best remains as 55.22, which she clocked at Macau during the Asian Junior Championships in 2006.

Anu Mariam will be seen in action in the 800m (PB – 2:11.78). Together with Poovamma, she is also taking part in the medley relay. Other members of the relay squad will be Marmu Jauna, Nanda Sarbani, Debashree Majumdar and Shriya Vidwans. 

Neethu Mathew (PB: 12.73) and Manpreet Kaur (PB: 14.49) are the remaining girls in the team to take part in Triple Jump and Shot Put respectively.   

Significantly, the six boys who are in the team have all registered their ‘bests’ during last month’s youth nationals at Bangalore. Sahil Mahindra clocked 1:55.6 in the 800m and Jithin Paul timed at 53.7 in the 400m Hurdles. The rest of the team consists of throwers with Ajay Pal Singh (SP – 17.47), Shivam Singh (DT – 53.29), Ajaj Ahmed (HT – 65.88) and Virender Kumar (JT – 65.00).

Ram. Murali Krishnan for the IAAF 

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