Poovamma, Sajeesh sparkle with gold

Athletics: Asian Grand Prix

M R Poovamma and Sajeesh Joseph were the stars for India in the first leg of the Asian Grand Prix series, winning gold medals with excellent performances here on Tuesday.

Poovamma ducked under the 53-second barrier for the first time in her career, clocking 52.94 seconds for the gold in the women’s 400M. Sajeesh, meanwhile, won the 800M in 1:47.78, slightly off his personal best of 1:47.45.

Both the athletes, however, failed to touch the Olympic qualification standards.
For the 21-year-old Poovamma, the standard to meet in the 400M is 52.35 while in the men’s 800M, the norm is 1:46.30.

Also producing a career-best show was high jumper Sahana Kumari. Sahana, who had crossed 1.88M in the Federation Cup, improved it by a centimetre to win silver behind Svetlana Radzivil of Uzebkistan on a countback. Sahana’s target is 1.92, the Olympic ‘B’ standard.

No other Indian contender came close to the marks on the day.

Triple jumper Renjith Maheswary, who had qualified for London in the Federation Cup last month with a 16.85M leap, barely crossed 16M on the day, winning the bronze with a 16.03M effort.

The relay teams too were unimpressive.

The men’s 4x400M squad of Bibin Mathew, Jitin Paul, S K Mortaja and P Kunhumohammad clocked 3:08.00 for the gold while the 4x100M team finished third behind Hong Kong and China in 39.51 seconds.

The women’s longer relay team, featuring Saraswati Chand, Debashree Mazumdar, Ratandeep Kaur, Poovamma clocked a mediocre 3:38.76 for the gold.

Mayookha Johny was fourth in women’s long jump with a 6.31M leap while Sinimole Paulose, who is focusing on the 1500M, won bronze in the 800M in an encouraging 2:03.19.

Results: 100M: Peimeng Zhang (China) 10.48 seconds, 1; Sadaruwan Shehan Abepitiyage (Sri Lanka) 10.52, 2; Reza Ghazemi (Iran) 10.65, 3.

400M: Sajad Hashemiahan (Iran) 46.73 seconds, 1; Ahmed Al-Majribi (Oman) 46.79, 2; Amarasekara S Prasanna (Sri Lanka) 47.52, 3.

800M: Sajeesh Joseph (India) 1:47.78, 1; Taes Adnan (Iraq) 1:48.36, 2; Ghamnada Ram (India) 1:48.71, 3.

110M hurdles: Abdulaziz Almandeel (Kuwait) 13.58 seconds, 1; Fan Jiang (China) 13.78, 2; Taekyong Park (Korea) 13.89, 3.

High jump: WP Manjula Kumara (Sri Lanka) 2.23 metres, 1; Keyvan Ghanbarzade (Iran) 2.23, 2; Ghazal Najd Eddin (Syria) 2.19, 3.

Long jump: Arzandeh Mohammad (Iran) 7.68 metres, 1; Li Jinzhe (China) 7.68, 2; Alhaddad Saleh (Kuwait) 7.48, 3.

Triple jump: Roman Valiyev (Kazakhstan) 16.55 metres, 1; Yevgenily Ektov (Kazakhstan) 16.37, 2; Renjith Maheswary (India) 16.03, 3.

Javelin throw: Ivan Zaytcev (Uzbekistan) 80.25 metres, 1; Shokujonov Bobur (Uzbekistan) 73.97, 2; Tarzumanov Rinat (Uzbekistan) 72.52.

4x100M relay: Hong Kong (39.28 seconds) 1; China (39.48) 2; India (39.51), 3. 4x400M relay: India (Bibin Mathew, Jitin Paul, SK Mortaja, Kunhumohammad) 3:08.00, 1; Korea (3:12.57) 2; Thailand (3:13.44) 3.

Women:

100M: Guzel Khubbieva (Uzbekistan) 11.39 seconds, 1; Yongli Wei (China) 11.60, 2; Vu Thi Huong (Vietnam) 11.79, 3.

400M: Poovamma M R (India) 52.94 seconds, 1; Toosi Maryam (Iran) 52.95, 2; Rasnayaka Mdiyanselage CS (Sri Lanka) 53.57, 3.

800M: Truong Thanh Hang (Vietnam) 2:02.15, 1; Anna Sidorova (Uzbekistan) 2:02.22, 2; Sinimole Paulose (India) 2:03.19, 3

100M hurdles: Sun Yawei (China) 13.31 seconds, 1; Dadeh Erawati (Indonesia) 13.33, 2; Jung Hyelim (Korea) 13.34, 3.

400M hurdles: Nataliya Asanova (Uzbekistan) 57.20 seconds, 1; Tatyana Azarova (Kazhakstan) 57.71, 2; Merril Christine Sonali (Sri Lanka) 58.20, 3. High jump: Svetlana Radzivil (Uzbekistan) 1.89 metres, 1; Sahana Kumari (India) 1.89, 2; Duong Thi Viet Anh (Vietnam) 1.86, 3.

Long jump: Juliya Tarasova (Uzbekistan) 6.46 metres, 1; Lu Minjia (China) 6.39, 2; Marestella Torres  (Philippines) 6.37, 3.

Shot put: Safiya Burkhanova (Uzbekistan) 16.28 metres, 1; Alexandra Fisher (Kazhakstan) 16.12, 2; Thongchao Sawitri (Thailand) 13.71, 3.

Discus throw: Insaeng Subenrat (Thailand) 52.75 metres, 1; Juthaporn Krasaeyan (Thailand) 40.42, 2; Charuwan Sroisena (Thailand) 36.57, 3. 4x100M relay: China (44.06 seconds) 1; Thailand ‘A’ (44.57) 2; Thailand ‘B’ (46.00) 3.

4x400M relay: India (Saraswati Chand, Debashree Mazumdar, Ratandeep Kaur, MR Poovamma) 3:38.76, 1; Thailand (3:52.69) 2.