The Hindu : Sport : Prajusha ends two years of agony and frustration

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 04, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Sport

Sport

Prajusha ends two years of agony and frustration

Stan Rayan

— Photo: H. Vibhu

GOLDEN JUMP: Kerala’s Prajusha won the women’s triple jump gold in Kochi.

KOCHI: M.A. Prajusha endured two years of agony and frustration before crossing the six-metre barrier in long jump three years ago.

The 22-year-old from Thrissur overcame another hurdle, the 13-metre mark in the women’s triple jump, at the inter-Railway meet a couple of months ago in Pune.

On Sunday, free from all the burden of expectations, the Railway athlete produced a triple jump stunner at the NIFE Indian Grand Prix at the Maharaja’s Stadium here on Sunday. Despite having none to push her in a three-member field, Prajusha opened the series with a 13.54m winning jump which should place her among the country’s top five triple jumpers ever. The effort was a massive 40-cm above her previous best.

“I’m looking to break Anju George’s national record (13.67m) this season and even cross 14 metres,” said Prajusha, who has been living in the shadow of Anju and Mayookha Johny for some time now.

“I’ll go for the record in the third Grand Prix in Chennai (on May 14). I would have got it here, but I was down with an upset stomach two days ago which pulled me down.”

Tough beginnings

Beginnings are tough, season-openers too. And while some big names like women’s distance runner Preeja Sreedharan and men’s sprinter B. G. Nagaraj bit the dust in the season’s first meet, Andhra Pradesh’s H. M. Jyoti raced to a wind-assisted personal best 11.54 secs while emerging as the meet’s fastest woman.

“I can’t believe it, I’m shocked,” said Jyoti, a Canara Bank Officer. “I was sort of dizzy at the start, the heat was terrible, I almost thought I’d have a headache.”

Much was expected from Railway’s Maha Singh but he could manage only 7.75m while winning the men’s long jump.

“The heat was terrible, we should have had the event at 6 p.m., not in the afternoon,” said the 28-year-old. “But I’ll get the national record in Chennai, 8.10m is my goal,” he promised.

The results: Men, 100m: 1. Abdul Najeeb Qureshi (AP) 10.59s, 2. B. G. Nagaraj (Rly) 10.63, 3. Sameer Mon (Ser) 10.67. 400m: 1. Bibin Mathew (Rly) 46.85s, 2. V. B. Beenish (Rly) 47.60, 3. Joseph Abraham (Rly) 47.72. 800m: 1. Prakash Verma (Rly) 1:49.60s, 2. Pankaj Dimri (Pol) 1:49.79, 3. C. Hamza (Ser) 1:49.85. 3,000m: 1. Surinder Singh (Ser) 7:55.40s, 2. Kashinath (Rly) 7:55.43, 3. Sandeep Batham (Rly) 8.08.06.

110m hurdles: 1. K. Krishna Mohan (AP) 14.34s, 2. Sandeep Parmar (IT, Pune) 14.46, 3. Nibu George (Ker) 15.01. Long jump: 1. Maha Singh (Rly) 7.75m, 2. Ankit Sharma (MP) 7.36, 3. Shiv Shanker Yadav (Rly) 7.24. High jump: 1. Benedict Starley (TN) 2.10m, 2. Hari Shankar Roy (Rly) 2.10, 3. Jithin Thomas (Ker) 2.10.

Javelin throw: 1. Kashi Nath (Ser) 73.78m, 2. Rohit Kumar (UP) 72.14, 3. Anil Kumar Singh (Rly) 69.50.Shot put: 1. Om Prakash (ONGC) 19.74m, 2. Satyender Singh (Rly) 18.72, 3. Sandeep Kumar (Ser) 17.63. Discus throw: 1. Simranjit Singh (BSF) 51.52m, 2. Kripal Singh (Punj) 49.82, 3. Sunil Kumar (UP) 48.22.

Women, 100m: 1. H. M. Jyoti (AP) 11.54s, 2. K. Sowjanya (AP) 11.97, 3. Namita Samal (Rly) 12.24. 400m: 1. K. Mridula (AP) 55.50s, 2. Mandeep Kaur (ONGC) 56.59, 3. Priyanka Panwar (Rly) 56.99. 800m: 1. Sushma Devi (Rly) 2:06.41s, 2. Tintu Luka (Ker) 2:06.73, 3. S. R. Bindu (Rly) 2:15.09.

3.000m: 1. O. P. Jaisha (Rly) 9:28.35s, 2. Preeja Sreedharan (Rly) 9:33.28, 3. Kavita Raut (ONGC) 9:45.20. 100m hurdles: Sushmita Singha Roy (Rly) 14.32s, 2. M. S. Darsana (Ker) 14.78, 3. M. M. Anchu (Ker) 15.27. High jump: 1. Sahana Kumari (Rly) 1.78m, 2. K. C. Chandana (Kar) 1.68, 3. N. D. Tintu (Ker) 1.68.

Triple jump: 1. M. A. Prajusha (Ker) 13.54m, 2. Resmi Bose (Rly) 12.39, 3. Mareena Joseph (Ker) 11.73. Discus throw: 1. Krishna Punia (Rly) 57.74m, 2. Seema Antil (CRPF) 54.39, 3. Harwant Kaur (Ori) 52.42.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport