By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net,
Bhopal: The 2nd Asian All Star Athletics Championship-2008 became a lack-luster affair as many reputed Asia-level athletes, many of those who were expected to come, including two top-ranked Chinese, kept away. It turned out to be virtually an all Indian affair with host athletes garnering major chunk of the medals at stake here on Thursday at Tatya Tope Stadium.
India hogged the limelight in low-key contests with a total of 30 medals out of 54 to their credit of which nine were gold, seven silver and 14 bronze. The highlight of the championship was the establishing of a new India national record in the Javelin Throw event by 23-year-old Anil Singh of India.
Anil, a Railway employee who hails from Bhiwani, Haryana, in his second attempt crossed the 80-meter marking. He threw the javelin for a distance of 80.72 meters and broke the ten-year-old national record of 79.68 meters set at Kolkata by Satbir Singh in October 1998. In this event Yamamoto Kazuki of Japan was placed second with a throw of 75.06 meters while Sandeep Yadav of India came third with a throw of 73.78 meters.
A beaming Anil after achieving the feat said that he and his coach were confident to break the 80 meters.
Apart from Anil Singh, athletes from India were placed first in eight other events which included 100 M race for men, 400 M hurdles for men, Shot Put and Women’s Discus Throw.
After India Kazakhstan and Japan garnered three gold medals each with four and two silver medals respectively in their kitty. Vietnam won one gold, silver and a bronze medal each, Sri Lanka one gold and one silver while Pakistan had to remain content with a lone gold medal in men’s discus throw. Iran, Malaysia and Korea picked a silver medal each while Uzbekistan, Philippine and Thailand bagged one broze medal each in the championship.
Meanwhile, three countries namely Nepal, Hong Kong and Syria drew blank as none of their athletes could come up with a performance to be among the medal winners.
B G. Nagraj of India became the fastest athlete of the championship when secured first position in Men’s 100-meter race clocking 10.52 seconds. While Abdul Najeeb Qureshi and Ganesh Satpute (both of India) secured second and third positions respectively in the race with timings of 10.56 seconds and 10.64 seconds respectively.
In the men’s triple jump event Renjith Maheshwari (best performance 17.19 meters), India’s star triple jumper and current Asian Champion, came a cropper as he was placed fifth with a jump of only 15.81 meters in a field of nine competitors from Kazakhstan, Korea, Thailand and Sri Lanka. This was even below his season’s best of 16.53 meters.
The men’s triple jump event was won by Kazakhstan’s Ektov Yevgeniy with a gallop of 16.32 meters in his fifth attempt out of allotted six. This was, however, much below his best performance and season’s best both being 17.07 meters. Ko Dae Young of Korea came second with a jump of 16.25 meters while Amarjeet Singh of India was placed third with a jump of 16.03 meters
Seven out of 22 countries China, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan did not participate in the championship while athletes from 15 countries including Japan, Pakistan, Korea, Kazakhstan, Iran, Syria, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Nepal and host India took part in the competition.
Overall the level of competition was so very poor in the Asian All Star Championship that only one record that too an Indian National record could be lowered. In such a scenario there was either no foreign competitor or no opposition worth the name, barring men’s 400m hurdles and javelin and women’s 100m and 1500m, the Indians won. Indian National discus record holder Seema Antil and season leader and Doha Asian Games champion Song Aimin of China, despite having been entered in the championship, failed to turn up at the venue.
Just three ran the women’s 800 meters, Kazakh Margarita Matsko edging Olympian PT Usha’s disciple Tintu Luka at the tape. Only three, again, competed in women’s discus, all of them Indians, with Saroj Sihag upsetting Krishna Poonia who could manage only 51.78 meters as against her best performance and season’s best both being 63.41 meters.
Saroj pocketed gold medal when she hurled the discus to a distance of 52.13 meters which was better than his season’s best of 49.74 meters while below than her best performance of 55.16 meters. The silver and bronze medals were won by Krishna Poonia and Amanpreet Kaur with throws of 51.78 meters and 44.77 meters respectively.
The events which concluded in the evening were marred by a steady drizzle at the fag end when part of women’s long jump, the
entire women’s 1500 meters and men’s 5000 meters races were held in falling rain. The breakdown of power at dusk while it was pouring outside made the situation in the stadium worst with the arrangements going haywire.
The inaugural ceremony was a visual treat as it showcased the rich tradition and cultural heritage in the form of spectacular dances from various regions of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Punjab in all its glory.
Declaring the meet open Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi said a championship of this stature in Bhopal was a matter of pride for the State.
Lauding State Sports Department for meticulous arrangements ensuring no inconvenience to players Kalmadi said that the championship would prove to be useful for preparations for Commonwealth Games to be held in October 2010.
Terming the championship a matter of pride for the State, Madhya Pradesh Sports Council vice-president Om Yadav in his welcome address said thanked All-India Olympic Association for holding it.
Extolling the efforts of the State Government to make the meet successful Yadav ensured all possible measures were being taken encourage and promote sports as well as sports persons. On the behalf of Madhya Pradesh Government, Yadav thanked all the athletes and visitors from various countries.
On the occasion, Bhopal Mayor Sunil Sood, Asian Athletics Association secretary Morris Nicholas, Madhya Pradesh Olympic Association president Mahesh Joshi, Indian Athletics Association general secretary & joint secretary Lalit Bhanot & Mumtaz Khan respectively, Additional Chief Secretary Sports and Youth Welfare Ranjana Choudhary, Director Sports Sanjay Choudhary, former sprinter Olympian PT Usha and presidents of Olympic Associations of various countries and sports lovers were present on the occasion amongst others. ([email protected])
Medals Tally
Country Gold Silver Bronze
1. India 9 7 14
2. Kazakhstan 3 4 0
3. Japan 3 2 0
4. Vietnam 1 1 1
5. Sri Lanka 1 1 0
6. Pakistan 1 0 0
7. Iran 0 1 0
8. Malaysia 0 1 0
9. Korea 0 1 0
10. Uzbekistan 0 0 1
11. Philippines 0 0 1
12. Thailand 0 0 1
13. Nepal 0 0 0
14. Hong Kong 0 0 0
15. Syria 0 0 0