CHENNAI: Tripping at the last hurdle, Joseph Abraham closely missed his personal best and national record (49.51s), which he achieved in Osaka in 2007. However, the 27-year-old’s gold-fetching 49.59 effort was sufficient for a place in the World Championships (B-level qualification is 49.80s). Abraham praised the new tra ck. “It is fantastic. I could have bettered my record, but having qualified for the World Championship that doesn’t hurt me much,” Abraham said.
BIBIN CLOCKS PERSONAL BEST
It was only in previous leg that 400m sprinter marked his personal best of 46.47. With the fresh track expected to be on the faster side, Bibin didn’t disappoint his supporters and clocked 46.16. Though he couldn’t make the World Championship cut-off (45.95), this substantial improvement in timing in successive races suffuses confidence in him.
“Now I feel confident of qualifying for the World Championship,” said Bibin, who completed a golden triple.
While Olympian and national record KM Binu skipped the 400m, Mandeep Kaur and Chitra K Soman pulled out midway through the women’s 400m event. Though her timing wasn’t as good as in Coimbatore (54.81), Tintu Luka bagged gold with a mediocre timing of 55.13. While Tintu couldn’t time her run, triple jumper MA Prajusha pulled her hamstring in practice on Wednesday and hence didn’t go full-throttle. But she was still good enough for pole.
Long jumper Maha Singh dished out a spirited effort though he couldn’t breach the eight-metre barrier or his best (7.99). Men’s high jump was a shut affair once Hari Shankar Roy leapt 2.21m. Benedict Starley was the second best (2.15). Abdul Najeeb Qureshi reinforced his claim as the fastest athlete of the Grand Prix and galloped forth to his third medal in as many legs (two in 100m and one in 200m).
While women discuss throwers showed no trace of regaining rhythm their men counterparts were no less better. Gold medallist Krishna Poonia, who threw 58.95m in Coimbatore, produced only 56.07m. An errorprone Seema Antil just hurled 55.00 while Harwant Kaur’s best 54.07. While no national records tumbled, there were a couple of edifying individual performances.
NO STOPPING GAYATHRI AMIDST
fellow contestants, G Gayathri literally cuts an elfin figure. But unfazed by the credentials of her competitors, she proclaimed her arrival at the big stage, claiming gold in 100m hurdles and silver in triple jump in the third leg of Indian Grand Prix at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. In the process, Gayathri also earned selection for the Asian GP to be held in China. A few minutes later, Sharda Narain emerged the fastest woman in the meet, clocking only 11.64s.
In front of her home crowd, she ran splendidly to deliver her maiden gold in a major event. She too has been selected for the Asian GP.