Karamjeet, Pramod Kumar set records

By K. P. Mohan

LUCKNOW, SEPT 21.A National record by woman pole vaulter Karamjeet Kaur and a meet record by hammer thrower Pramod Kumar Tiwari marked the finale of the 41st National inter-State athletic championships at the Guru Gobind Singh Sports College stadium here on Friday.

The very fact that one has to talk about a women's pole vault record in the Indian context, should underscore the paucity of such marks in recent times and especially in this National meet. There is hope that there would be a marked improvement in standards in the Open National meet at Chennai next month when some of the stars, who are not on the injured list, should be expected to return.

``The very sight of a better track and runways should pep the athletes up and contribute towards better marks,'' said a coach about the prospects of the Open in Chennai producing a far better fare than that was witnessed on a worn-out track here.

One man who was wary of the hard-as-a-rock track surface was Anil Kumar after he had won the 100 the previous day. A reluctant performer in the 200 metres, which had to be shifted to the last day on his request, inter-changing it with the short dash, the Kerala sprinter completed the sprint double without much ado. He had done it the last time, too.

Anil who complained of stiff legs and a muscle strain, could not gain the `best athlete' award, however, the distinction going to high hurdler Gurdeep Singh who bettered a 37-year-old National record on the opening day with a time of 14.07s. Sprinter Saraswati Dey won the corresponding award in the women's section. The awards are based on the points gained on the IAAF scoring tables for a particular performance.

Coming back to women's pole vault, Karamajeet had been improving upon her own record with every meet and being a new event for women this is going to be the trend for a few more years to come. Yet, it is creditable that she has stretched it without being challenged at all at any of the meets.

The gymnast-turned athlete from Punjab had gone up from 3.10 metres to 3.15m in the Federation Cup at Bangalore in June and today, she scaled 3.17 metres to post a new national record. Her confidence in her own ability was reflected in her starting height of 3.12m. By the time she entered the fray everyone else had finished their jobs, the best among them being a 2.50 clearance by B. S. Preethie of Karnataka.

Clearing 3.12 on her first attempt, Karamjeet went straight for the National mark by opting for 3.17 and scaled that height on her first attempt. Subsequently she had three failures at 3.22m. With the world mark by American Stacy Dragila being 4.81m, women's pole vault has gone beyond the reach of the Indians despite its late entry. Even at the Asian level the standard hovers around the 4.35-4.40 mark. Yet, Karamjeet ploughs a lone furrow in the Indian context, no matter the seemingly futile task of reaching international standards.

Pramod Tiwari had the meet record in his bag with his third throw which measured 67.46 metres. Virendar Poonia's record, set at the same venue in 1999 happened to be 67.41m. Tiwari said he went after the National mark but after that he could only improve further on the meet mark. The Allahabad hammer-man's fifth throw was 68.98. Ishtiaque Ahmed, who was absent here due to a foot injury, holds the national mark at 70.13m, though this record has not been officially ratified as yet.

What could have been a keen duel between two Kerala youngsters in the 800 metres, failed to materialise as K. M. Binu had to withdraw from the final because of an injury sustained in the heats on Thursday when he was spiked. P. S. Primesh, representing Jharkhand since he has a TISCO scholarship, won in a rather ordinary 1:50.34 after a pacy opening lap of 53-plus. Primesh has been unbeaten this season at home.

Without his nemesis, Shakti Singh, in the field, Bahadur Singh had an easy time in shot put, winning with an impressive 19.55m. The Punjab thrower, who had touched a season- leading 19.69 at the World Police Games in Indianapolis in June, opened with a 19.00, fouled next and then putted to 19.55. He fouled his last three attempts. Jaiveer Singh with an opening throw of 17.92m was second while Navpreet Singh, the winner in the first three domestic circuit meets this year, took the bronze with 17.62m.

National record holder Soma Biswas had a `no mark' and `zero' registered against her name in javelin, the penultimate event in the heptathlon. She had a tally of 4139 at that point and could have even won the gold had she continued despite the setback, but preferred to quit the last event, the 800 metres.

``I don't think those throws were fouls,'' said Soma. All her three throws were declared `flat' and this fouls, but she said that since they were using the old javelin, the throws, even for many others, had landed just as the same as her's. She was baffled by the ruling, not to speak of being upset. ``After the zero there was little point in continuing'' the Bengal girl said.

Uday Laxmi of Andhra won the heptathlon gold with a tally of 4878 points while her team-mate, J. J. Shobha, was second with 4804.

Kavita Pandya of Maharashtra, her unbeaten streak ended in the 100m by Saraswati Dey, the previous day, had the satisfaction of winning the 200 metres without trouble against the opposition of junior Mukti Saha. Saraswati did not enter.

C. Latha of Tamil Nadu had a fluent victory in the women's 800 metres, taking on 400 winner Sunita Dahiya and Harjeet Kaur of Punjab on the straight and clocking a creditable 2:05.83. Harjeet pushed Dahiya to the third spot.

In a close race for the overall championship, Kerala, the defending champion, lost to Punjab by 11 points, the turn- around coming in the men's triple jump where Punjab took the gold and silver through Prit Pal Singh and Amarjeet Singh. Worse, Kerala finished without a medal as its main hope, Robin M. Verghese came fourth with just 15.22 as against his State championship mark of 15.85.

A further setback for Kerala, despite a brilliant second leg by long jumper Anisha K. Vijayan, was in the women's 4x400m relay where it took the silver behind Tamil Nadu. C. Latha held off the challenge of Jincy Philip on the anchor to fetch Tamil Nadu the gold.

Kerala could not even hold onto its team title in the women's section, losing it to Bengal, while in the men's section it came second best to Punjab.

The results: Men: 200m: 1. Anil Kumar (Ker) 21.24s, 2. Clifford Joshua (Kar) 21.73, 3. Lokesh Fauzdar (Raj) 22.13; 800m: 1. P. S. Primesh (Jharkhand) 1:50.34, 2. Ram Murthy Yadav (U.P) 1:50.84, 3. Tej Karan Singh (M.P) 1:51.30; 10,000m: 1. N. Gojen Singh (Man) 31:19.37, 2. Jagannath Lakade (Mah) 31:28.07, 3. Harish Tiwari (U.P) 31:47.65; 3000m steeplechase: 1. Rajesh Kumar (Har) 9:14.50, 2. Ranjan Kumar Jha (Jharkhand) 9:15.16, 3. Basavraj (Kar) 9:19.19.

Triple jump: Prit Pal Singh (Pun) 15.57m, 2. Amarjeet Singh (Pun) 15.45, 3. Saintison (Kar) 15.32.

Shot put: 1. Bahadur Singh (Pu) 19.55m, 2. Jaiveer Singh (Raj) 17.92m, 3. Navpreet Singh (Pun) 17.62m; Hammer: 1. Pramod Kumar Tiwari (U.P) 68.98 (NMR, old 67.41m); Javelin: 1. Sunil Kumar (Del) 72.16m, 2. Fazal Ansari (Bih) 71.24, 3. B. S. Dubey (Mah) 71.22.

4x400m relay: 1. Kerala 3:14.01, 2. Andhra Pradesh 3:16.60, 3. Bihar 3:18.85.

Team championship: 1. Punjab 81 points, 2. Kerala 72.

Women: 200m:1. Kavita Pandya (Mah) 24.05s, 2. Mukti Saha (Ben) 24.45, 3. M. K. Syamanthakam (TN) 24.71; 800m: 1. C. Latha (T.N) 2:05.83, 2. Harjeet Kaur (Pun) 2:06.47, 3. Sunita Dahiya (Har) 2:07.68; 10,000m: 1.Pushpa (Del) 37:29.72, 2.H. Sagini Devi (Man) 37:59.50, 3. Pampa Chanda (Ben) 38:46.15; High jump: 1. Harshini Kumari (Kar) 1.64m, 2. Sarita Patil 1.63, 3. Jaicy Thomas (U.P.) 1.60m; Pole vault: 1. Karamjeet Kaur (Pun) 3.17 (National record, old 3.15m), 2. B. S. Preethie (Kar) 2.50, 3. Chetna Solanki (Bih) 2.40;

Heptathlon: 1. Uday Laxmi (A.P.) 4878 pts, 2. J. J. Shobha (A.P) 4804, 3. Rosemary Anthony (Ker) 4439.

4x400m relay: 1. Tamil Nadu 3:43.30, 2. Kerala 3:43.48, 3. Andhra Pradesh 3:45.75.

20,000m walk: 1. Jasmin Kaur (Pun) 1:52:41, 2. Rajdeep Kaur (Pun) 2:02.27, 3. Rajdeep Kaur (A.P)

Team championship; 1. Bengal 76 points, 2. Kerala 55.

Overall championship: 1. Punjab 138 points, 2. Kerala 127.

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