Gowda sixth, Tintu eighth

National record holder Vikas Gowda finished a creditable sixth in men’s discus throw in the first leg of the Samsung Diamond League series here on Friday.

Gowda, who has already qualified for the London Olympics, came up with a decent effort of 64.10 metres which was though below her personal best.

Gowda fouled the first throw and followed it up with efforts of 60.07, 64.10 and 60.32.
The United States-based Indian had recently come up with an impressive throw of 66.28m in a meet at Norman, Oklahoma to top the world list for a brief period.

His sixth-place finish here in the prestigious IAAF event is though creditable considering that the 11-man field has some top discus throwers of the world.

Beijing Olympics silver medallist Malachowski Piotr of Poland won the event with a throw of 67.53m while reigning Asian champion Ehsan Hadadi of Iran and Zoltan Kovago of Hungary bagged the silver and bronze respectively with efforts of 66.32m and 65.77m.  

The other Indian in fray here, Tintu Luka, finished eighth in the women’s 800M won by Kenyan Olympic champion Pamela Jelimo in a world leading time of 1:56.94. Tintu, running her first race of the season, timed 2:01.09.

Ethiopia’s Fantu Manedo Magiso set a national record of 1:57.90 for the silver, ahead of former world champion Janeth Jepkosgei of Kenya (1:58.50).