Hussain Taher Al Sabee saved his best for last to take the long jump gold on a bright day for Saudi Arabia, even as Indian hopes of a third medal went up in smoke at the 4th Military World Games athletics event on Thursday.
Hussain, the Asian Games champion, produced a leap of 8.04 metres in the last round to seal his dominance in an event he led right from the beginning. With Mohammed Al Salhi winning the 800 metres and the 4x400M relay team also finding success, Saudi Arabia had three gold medals on the final day of the athletics programme.
India, in contrast, were looking to add to the bronze medals won by Jeetender Singh (400M hurdles) and C Hamza (1500M). Their best chance was in the relays, but a poor baton exchange and a couple of mishaps spoilt their show.
After a superb start by Anil Kumar, India were looking good in the 4x100M relay. But in the second changeover, Sivadevan took off a bit early and had to slow down to take the baton from Seenivasan. The momentum was snapped at that point and Sameer Mon's desperate dash could earn India only the sixth place at 40.75 seconds.
The gold went to Italy in 39.28 seconds.
In the 4x400 relay, both TG Ajesh, who ran the third leg, and SK Mortaza, the anchor, collided with other athletes in the exchange zone, spoiling India's chances. Mortaza ran hard but at 3:10.94, India were way behind the Saudi Arabians (3:05.10).
The women's high jump was another stellar attraction on the day, featuring World Championship silver medallist Anna Chicherova of Russia and Vita Palamar of Ukraine, another leading jumper. In the end, Palamar upset Chicherova, claiming the gold at 1.98 metres.
Samuel Francis of Qatar, the favourite in the 200M, was disqualified for a false start in the final. The event was won by Marcin Jedrusinski of Poland in 20.70 seconds.
Results:
Men: 200M: Marcin Jedrusinski (Pol, 20.70S) 1; 1; Cavallaro Alessandro (Ita, 20.82) 2; Omar Jumalsalfa (UAE, 21.10) 3. 800M: Mohammed Al Salhi (S Arabia, 1:49.02) 1; Abubakar Kaki Khamis (Sud, 1:49.23) 2; Justus Koech (Ken, 1:49.24) 3. Francis Sagayaraj (Ind, 1:53.69) 8.
10000M: John Korir (Ken, 28:13.52) 1; Mark Kiptoo (Ken, 28:22.62) 2; Nessa Adam Ismael (Bah, 28:42.76) 3. 110M hurdles: Ji Wei (Chn, 13.44S) 1; Mohammed Al-Thawadi (Qat, 13.60) 2; Gregory Sedoc (Ned, 13.75) 3.
3000M steeplechase: Hamid Ezzine (Mor, 8:37.80) 1; Henry Kipkosgei (Ken, 8:41.83) 2; Loic Kowal (Fra, 8:45.16) 3. Long jump: Hussain Taher Al Sabah (S Arabia, 8.04M) 1; Julien Fivaz (Sui, 7.57) 2; Vlodymyr Ziuskov (Ukr, 7.55) 3.
4x100M relay: Italy (39.28S) 1; Poland (39.52) 2; Saudi Arabia (39.73) 3. India (Anil Kumar, Seenivasan, Sivadevan, Sameer Mon, 40.75S) 6. 4x400M relay: Saudi Arabia (3:05.10) 1; Kenya (3:06.11) 2; Sudan (3:08.70) 3. India (Aboobacker, Sarish Paul, TG Ajesh, S K Mortaza, 3:10.94) 6.
Women: 1500M: Sylvia Ejzys (Pol, 4:16.90) 1; Daniela Iordanova (Bul, 4:17.00) 2; Inna Polusrina (Lat, 4:17.80) 3. 100M hurdles: Yevgeniya Snigur (Ukr, 13.23S) 1; Catttaneo Micol (Ita, 13.36) 2; Judith Ritz (Ger, 13.65) 3.
High jump: Vita Palamar (Ukr, 1.98M) 1; Anna Chicherova (Rus, 1.96) 2; Vita Stopina (Ukr, 1.94) 3. Shot put: Anna Omarova (Rus, 17.78M) 1; Yuliya Leantsiuk (Bela, 16.32) 2; Wang Li Hong (Chn, 15.82) 3.
Javelin: Zhang Li (Chn, 59.96M) 1; Marice Abukumova (Rus, 59.60) 2; Indre Jakubaityte (Lit, 54.93) 3. 4x100M relay: Italy (44.97S) 1; Russia (46.22) 2; Germany (46.49) 3.
