CHENNAI: If Indian athletes are hopeful of reaping a rich haul in the Commonwealth Games next year, it’s high time they eschewed the trash talk of peaking ahead of an important tournament. Often, it’s an excuse to justify their mediocrity at the domestic circuit and not a meticulously etched strategy, as practiced by top athletes world over.
Their performances in the Beijing Olympics aptly reflect the point.
It has almost become a euphemism for ordinariness in the athletic parlance. Yet the players carelessly resort to this line. So the essence of the 49th Inter-State Senior Athletic Championship is as some of the players put in, “is to move a step closer to the peak”, which they would touch during the Asian Championship in Guangzhou next month.
However, the pre-conditions haven’t been indicative of optimism, as Indians had been faring poorly in international events. The six-week camp in England didn’t produce anything of note, which reflected in their dismal display in the World Championships.
The recently concluded Open National Championship wasn’t an overwhelming success, in terms of quality, but a clutch of individual performances lighted up the gloom.
Some of them are here in Chennai as well. Such championships are ideal for the domestic bullies to rewrite a few records, the freshly-laid track spurs a whiff off wind under the athletes heels, while talentscouters are prying for an odd hint of talent.
All the same, athletes would dish out their best, as this is the final stopover before the Asian Championships.
Prominent among them is Renjith Maheswary, who seems to have regained some form after a disappointing 2008. He best last year was a measly 15.81 in the Asian All-Stars meet in Bhopal. His first participation this season, in Europe, was marred by a series of foul jumps. However, he cleared 16.68 in the Bhopal Open event and signaled his return to form. A similar performance — he would be vying to touch 16.80 - in Chennai should boost his morale ahead of the Asian Championship.
Like Renjith, his wife and pole-vaulter VS Surekha, after a year-and-a-half hiatus, crossed 4m and broke the championship record. But in the absence of Anju Bobby George, the athlete to watch out for is Tintu Luka, the 800m sprinter from the Usha School of Athletics. Only 20, she clocked her personal best of 2:03.53 en route to her maiden senior title.
HM Jyothi has few peers in the 100m grid while discuss thrower Krishna Poonia would want to strike rhythm at a venue she had eclipsed her fellow competitors Harwant Kaur and Seema Antil.
However, Poonia, who hasn’t fully recovered from her back injury, came third in the Bhopal Open. Home girls G Gayathri and Sharda Narayanan bolster the hosts’ prospects.
The likes of 400m-sprinter Bibin Mathew and 400-hurdler Joseph Abraham would look forward to sustain the momentum they had achieved since the Indian Grand Prix.