Renjith, relay teams pocket gold in final leg

India wrapped up the Asian Grand Prix series winning three gold medals in the final leg here but it was a far from satisfactory trip with none of their athletes achieving the Olympic qualification standard across the three-meet competition.

Renjith Maheswary, who has already booked his London ticket, won the triple jump gold while the 4x400M relay teams in both the men’s and women’s sections came out triumphant, though the timings again were far from impressive.

Across the field, the performances dipped, perhaps weariness coming into the picture.
Renjith topped with a 16.46M effort ahead of Kazakhstan’s Roman Valiyev (16.13) and compatriot Arpinder Singh (15.85).

The men’s relay team timed 3:10.57 while the women, anchored by M R Poovamma, clocked 3:38.22.

Poovamma, who had won the gold medal in the first two legs, was pushed to silver position by Maryam Toosi of Iran, who clocked 53.44 seconds to the Indian’s 53.50.
In contrast to the general lethargic displays, Mayookha Johny showed signs of improvement, winning the long jump silver in 6.48M, her best performance of the series. Notable was the slide of M A Prajusha, who could manage only 5.81 for her eighth place.

P Kunhumohammed, who had clocked his personal best of 46.14 in the second leg for the gold, took silver this time in 46.44. Sajeesh Joseph too ended up with a silver, timing 1:49.96 in the 800 while Ghamanda Ram won his first medal of the series, a bronze, in 1:50.06.

Sahana Kumari, who had cleared her career best of 1.89M in Bangkok and Kanchanaburi, finished out of the medals this time, after clearing 1.83 and tying for the second place. She was placed fourth in a countback. Sinimole Paulose won another silver for India, clocking 2:03.34 in the 800M.

Results: Men: 100M: Zheng Pei Meng (China) 10.48 seconds, 1; Ghasemi Reza (Iran) 10.56, 2; Zheng Dongsheng (China) 10.65, 3. 400M: Sajad Hashemiahan (Iran) 46.31 seconds, 1; P Kunhumohammed (India) 46.44, 2; Prasanna Amarasekara (Sri Lanka) 47.80, 3. 800M: Adnan Taes (Iraq) 1:49.79, 1; Sajeesh Joseph (India) 1:49.96, 2; Ghamanda Ram (India) 1:50.06, 3.

110M hurdles: Abdulaziz Almandeel (Kuwait) 13.62 metres, 1; Fan Jiang (China) 13.78, 2; Wan Sofian Rayzam Shah (Malaysia) 13.83, 3. High jump: Keyvan Ghanbarzade (Iran) 2.23 metres, 1; Manjula Kumara (Sri Lanka) 2.23, 2; Pramote Pumurai (Thailand) 2.23, 3. Long jump: Li Jinzhe (China) 7.80 metres, 1; Henry Dagmil (Philippines) 7.55, 2; Mohd Arzandeh (Iran) 7.49, 3. Ankit Sharma (India) 7.37, 5.

Triple jump: Renjith Maheswary (India) 16.46 metres, 1; Roman Valiyev (Kazakhstan) 16.13, 2; Arpinder Singh (India) 15.85, 3. Javelin throw: Rinat Tarzumanov (Uzbekistan) 76.57 metres, 1; Ivan Zaytev (Uzbekistan) 71.44, 2; Makki Ammar (Iraq) 71.29, 3.Rohit Kumar (India) 69.12, 5.

4x100M relay: Chinese Taipei 39.23 seconds, 1; Hong Kong 39.27, 2; China 39.34, 3. India 39.56, 5. 4x400M relay: India 3:10.57, 1; Thailand 3:14.44, 2; South Korea 3:14.97, 3.

Women: 100M: Guzel Khubbieva (Uzbekistan) 11.82 seconds, 1; Viktoria Zyabikina (Kazakhstan) 12.00, 2; Vu Thi Huong (Vietnam) 12.04, 3. 400M: Maryam Toosi (Iran) 53.44 seconds, 1; Poovamma M R (India) 53.50, 2; Rasnayaka M (Sri Lanka) 53.55, 3.
800M: Truong Thanh Hang (Vietnam) 2:02.35, 1; Sinimole Paulose (India) 2:03.34, 2; Anna Sidorova (Uzbekistan) 2:04:26, 3.

High jump: Svetlana Radvizil (Uzbekisstan) 1.90 metres, 1; Duong Thi Viet Anh (Vietnam) 1.83, 2; Wanida Boonwan (Thailand) 1.83, 3. Sahana Kumari (India) 1.83, 4.
Long jump: Marestella Torres (Philippines) 6.62 metres, Mayookha Johny (India) 6.48, 2; Natalia Maria Londa (Indonesia) 6.42, 3. M A Prajusa (India) 5.81, 8.
4x100M relay: China 44.49, 1; Thailand 44.86, 2; India 49.06, 3.
4x400M relay: India 3:38.22, 1; Thailand 3:59.85, 2; China 3:59.16, 3.