Heavy rains just before the start of yesterday’s action (Fri 24) somewhat spoilt the show in the final leg of the Asian Grand Prix circuit, but Chinese long jumper Song Jian braved a wet runway to post a career best 7.98 metres to call a halt to Indian Maha Singh’s winning streak.
Having touched a distance of 7.83m in the previous leg at Singapore that also happened to be his personal best then, Song Jian was determined to end Maha Singh’s reign. And he was off to a flying start despite the wet conditions, registering an opening jump of 7.63m that no one bettered till the end. The 22-year-old Chinese brought off three superb jumps to round off the competition, 7.82, 7.72 and 7.98.
Maha Singh, who had jumped a personal best 7.99m in the previous meet, came up to 7.52 on his fourth attempt, but this was not his day. Filipino Henry Dagmil was in third with 7.43. Maha Singh was the odd athlete out in the bunch of seven who were in line to make a sweep of the three legs.
Song Aimin picks up biggest prize
But the athlete who walked away with the biggest purse of all was Chinese discus thrower Song Aimin. Her 65.23 in the opening meet at Sidoarjo, Indonesia, being a top-10 performance in the world this season, fetched her a bonus of 15,000 US dollars. She of course won again today, though she did not have a clean record as Indian Harwant Kaur had beaten her in Singapore.
On Friday, Song Aimin once again proved that she was a cut above the rest, hurling the Discus to 62.88 metres. Indian Seema Antil, despite a poor 53.57, managed the silver while the surprise of the day was the slump in Harwant Kaur’s performance, a mere 51.94 for the fourth place behind team-mate Krishna Poonia (53.28).
Weather conditions cause hurdlers problems
The athletes clearly showed signs of weariness as they tackled this last leg of the 2005 series at the end of a week-long campaign. Added to it was the rain that proved a handicap to many an athlete. Though the rains abated in time to make a start, the competitors in the women’s 400m Hurdles fared the worst in the conditions.
As it turned out, Chinese Yao Yuehua, who won at Singapore and who was in the lead today by a fair margin, slipped and fell at the seventh hurdle never to take up the challenge again. Kazakh Natalya Alimzhanova was the beneficiary as she won in a modest 56.43 seconds.
Keenly contested Long Jump
Contest-wise, women’s Long Jump also proved a keen one, with Filipino Maristella Torres taking the gold at 6.55 metres. Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan (6.46m) had just five centimetres to spare from Chinese Zhong Mei while the fourth-placed Uzbek, Anastasiya Juravleva was on 6.38. Considering the conditions, this was a very creditable effort by the women long jumpers.
High jump in both sections saw ties and countbacks. Lebanon’s Jean Claude Rabbath won the men’s event, edging Chinese Wang Hao on a countback after the two tied at 2.18 while three women, Tatiana Effimenko of Kyrgyzstan, Annad Ustinova of Kazakhstan and Jiang Haiyan of China were locked at 1.86 at the end of the the women’s competition. Effimenko, the Asian Games champion, had the gold.
Indonesian John Hermany Muray posted another personal best (10.38s) to win the 100m title from Indians Anil Kumar and Piyush Kumar. Anil who had a 10.36 back home and who holds the Indian National record at 10.33, came second in 10.41 followed by countryman Piyush Kumar. The poor run of Kazakh Gennadiy Chernovol, the pre-circuit favourite, continued as he finished fifth in 10.73, behind local lad Sittichai Suwonprateep.
Those who made a clean sweep of the three legs were Moradi Sadjad (Iran- 800m), Wu Youjia (China -110m Hurdles), Li Rongxiang (China- Javelin), Tatyana Roslanova (Kazakhstan-women’s 400m), Tatiana Borisova (Kyrgyzstan- women’s 1500m) and Zhang Guirong (Singapore- women’s Shot Put).
By an IAAF Correspondent
Results:
Men:
100m: 1. John Herman Muray (Ina) 10.38, 2. Anil Kumar (Ind) 10.41, 3. Piyush Kumar (Ind) 10.52;
400m: Rohan Pradeep Kumara (Sri) 46.01, 2. Sampath Amarasekara (Sri) 46.11, 3. Bhupinder Singh (Ind) 47.34;
800m: 1. Moradi Sadjad (Iri) 1:48.60, 2. Ehsan Mohajershojaei (Iri) 1:49.09, 3. Mikhail Kolganov (Kaz) 1:49.98;
110m Hurdles: 1. Wu Youjia (Chn) 13.85, 2. Roholla Ashgari (Iri) 13.90, 3. Suphan Wongsriphuck (Tha) 14.06;
High Jump: 1.Jean Claude Rabbath (Lib) 2.18, 2. Wang Hao (Chn) 2.18, 3. Omar Moussa Al Masrahi (KSA) 2.14;
Long Jump: 1. Song Jian (Chn) 7.98, 2. Maha Singh (Ind) 7.52, 3. Henry Dagmil (Phi) 7.43;
Shot Put: 1. Navpreet Singh (Ind) 18.77, 2. Zhang Qi (Chn) 18.44, 3. Ranvijay Singh (Ind) 18.09;
Javelin Throw: 1. Li Rongxiang (Chn) 72.64, 2. Jagdish Bishnoi (Ind) 71.14, 3. Park Jae-Myong (Kor) 68.85.
Women:
100m: 1. Lyubov Perepelova (Uzb) 11.45, 2. Guzel Khubbieva (Uzb) 11.54, 3. Nongnuch Sanrat (Tha) 11.62;
400m: 1. Tatyana Roslanova (Kaz) 51.49, 2. Sathi Geetha (Ind) 52.04s, 3. Asami Tanno (Jpn) 52.16;
1500m: 1. Tatiana Borisova (Kgz) 4:14.93, 2. Svetlana Lukasheva (Kaz) 4:16.48, 3. Sunita Rani (Ind) 4:19.16;
400m Hurdles: 1. Natalya Alimzhanova (Kaz) 56.43, 2. Satomi Kubokura (Jpn) 56.58, 3. Galina Pedan (Kgz) 57.48;
High Jump: 1.Tatiana Effimenko (Kgz) 1.86, 2. Anna Ustinova (Kaz) 1.86, 3. Jiang Haiyan (Chn) 1.86;
Long Jump: 1. Maristella Torres (Phi) 6.55, 2. Olga Rypakova (Kaz) 6.46, 3. Zhong Mei (Chn) 6.41;
Shot Put: 1. Zhang Guirong (Chn) 17.51, 2. Iolanta Ulyeva (Kaz) 16.49, 3. Lee Mi-Young (Kor) 16.37;
DiscusThrow: 1. Song Aimin (Chn) 62.88, 2 Seema Antil 53.57, 3. Krishna Poonia (Ind) 53.28.
