The Hindu : Sport / Athletics : Surekha vaults to National mark

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 13, 2004

Sport

Sport - Athletics

Surekha vaults to National mark

By Nandakumar Marar

MUMBAI, SEPT. 12. V.S. Surekha, adept at rope-climbing with boys after stopping athletic training for long jump on medical advice, confirmed her presence as one of India's leading women pole vaulters with a national best 3.55m on the concluding day of the Standard Chartered Open National Athletics.

The only national mark of the three-day meet in which women athletes, as usual, made a mark with Indian Railways teammate Sohana Kumar equalling the high jump meet record of 1.81m at the Priyadarshini Park on Sunday. Railways won overall team title, Services (men) and Railways (women) finished on top in respective categories.

Healthy competition

Eight competitors took part in the women's pole vault, leading to healthy competition in an event demanding athleticism and power, though out of prize money list for record-breakers due to recent introduction. Surekha started off with 3.10m and went on raising the bar. "The run-up was to my liking and fortunately for us, the winds blew in from sea front after the competition ended," observed the 20-year-old Southern Railway girl, coached by R. Manickraj at Madras Medical College ground, whose ordeal was not over yet.

Five hours after women's pole vault ended around 12.30 on the third and final day, she was still waiting for her medal, with no one from Bombay City District Amateur Athletics Association, the organiser, at hand for a definite reply.

The appearance of Union Sports Minister Sunil Dutt and Amateur Athletics Association of India president Suresh Kalmadi for the closing ceremony added to this champion-in-waiting's anxiety. Eventually, she ended up with the `best women athlete' award besides the pole vault gold; Railways sprinter Piyush Kumar was chosen `best male athlete'.

The results (all finals):

Women: 20km walk: 1. Y. Bala Devi (Rlys) 1:51:14.9; 2. L. Deepmala Devi (Rlys) 1:54:32.9; 3. V. Saraswathi (AP) 1:57:36.7. Pole vault: V.S. Surekha (Rlys) 3.55m (NAT REC, old 3.51m); Shail Tiwari (Rlys) 3.30; Deepa Choudhary (Del) and Tapsi Nandi (Rlys) 3.00. High jump: Sahana Kumari (Rlys) 1.81m (EMR); Sarita Kumari (Mah) 1.74; Tessymol Joseph (Rlys) 1.68. 400m hurdles: Babita Choudhary (Rlys) 58.05; Pinki Pramanik (Rlys) 59.95; Roselin Arokia Mary (Rlys) 1:00.75. 200m: 1. Manjit Kaur (Pol) 24.47; 2. Iyleen Samantha (AP) 25.11; Rakhi Saha (Rly) 25.48. 10km run: L. Aruna Devi (Rlys) 37:30.42; Pushpa Devi (Rlys) 37:57.43; Vaishali Chitre (Mah) 39:21.72. Heptathlon: Sushmita Singh Roy (Rlys) 4731 pts; Rose Mary Anthony (Ker) 4358. 4x400 relay cancelled.

Men: 5000m: 1.Jagannath Lakade (Ser) 14:44.39; 3. Deepachand Mohan Singh (Ser) 14:45.68; 3. S. Raghunath (TN) 14: 48.88. Hammer throw: Harpal Singh (Pol) 60.33; Rakesh Kumar (Pol) 59.59; Madhu Kumar (Rlys) 59.57. Javelin throw: Gajendra Kumar (Rlys) 74.75; Anik Kumar (Del) 74.70; Om Narayan (Rlys) 71.82. Shot put: Ranvijay Singh (UP) 18.69; Jaivir Singh (Ser) 18.43; Shakti Singh (Rlys) 18.06. 400m hurdles: P. Shankar (AP) 51.62; Ranjodh Singh (Pun) 52.64; Kiran Prasad (Ker) 52.69. Triple jump: Amarjit Singh (Pol) 15.97 (+3.0); Sushant Bangera (Mah) 15.59; Naveen K (Ker) 15.58. 200m: 1. Anil Kumar Prakash (Ser) 21.23; Piyush Kumar (Rlys) 21.52; B.G. Nagaraj (Kar) 21.62. 4x400m relay: Services (Satvir Singh, K.T.Tony, A.G.Ajesh, Sarish Paul) 3:13.97; Railways 3:17.04; Delhi 3:17.89.

Team championships: Overall: 1. Indian Railways (338 pts); 2. Services (150 pts). Men: 1. Services; 2. Rlys. Women's: 1. Rlys; 2. All India Police.

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