Maharashtra Herald June 27, 2007
BY SUHRID BARUA
suhridb@sakalherald.com
Pune:The inclement weather has charted its plans to play truant to the smooth conduct of the Asian Grand Prix athletic championships to be held in the Baburao Sanas Sports Ground on Tuesday. Intermittent showers throughout the day with spells of bright sunshine in the afternoon, made the practice session of the athletes far from a cosy affair. To tell the truth, the amount of pounding the tracks have received from the torrential rains over the past few days, may not render the surface unplayable, but it is sure to affect the timings of those, who are keen on going the extra-mile in their quest to give their best shot.
Obviously, it doesn’t need a rocket scientist to understand why all eyes would be riveted on Anju Bobby George when she takes guard in the long jump pit. The 30-year-old coming off a long injury lay-off owing to a heel injury has gradually paced herself in the groove, clocking a modest timing of 6.28 metres in the Guwahati leg of the event a few days back. But the Pune leg would present Anju a photo opportunity to clear the qualifying mark of 6.60 metres for the forthcoming World Athletics Championships to be held in Osaka, Japan, this August. It’s not going to be an Anju-show all the way.
The fierce rivalry between Sri Lankan sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe and Guzul Khubbieua of Uzbekistan would be renewed when the duo take the starting blocks in the women’s 100m event. Susanthika, the 2000 Sydney Olympics bronze medallist, finished a close-second to Khubbieua in both the first two legs at Bangkok and Guwahati. And this time around, Susanthika would be straining her last nerve to pull off a gold medal finish.
Triple jumper Renjith Maheshwary is another Indian, who would keep the spectators interested. Fresh from his twin gold-winning feats in Bangkok and Guwahati, where she scripted a new national record, the Kerala lad would be looking to make the most of the recent consistent shows and go into the forthcoming Asian Athletics Championship and the World Athletic Championships with a positive frame of mind.
His state-mate Sinimole Paulose is another Indian, who would be keenly watched. Sinimole is riding a wave of success, having bagged the women’s 1500m gold in the Bangkok and Guwahati and the talented metric-miler would be itching to make it a grand treble. Among the other Indians, the duo of Sunil Kumar and Surender Singh would be pushing hard to get into the medal bracket after swapping 1-2 positions in the Bangkok and Guwahati legs. All and said done, the stage is set for a day of scintillating action and the organisers might just be better served by uttering the rhyme ‘Rain, Rain Go Away.’ And who knows the weather gods might just relent.
Pune:The inclement weather has charted its plans to play truant to the smooth conduct of the Asian Grand Prix athletic championships to be held in the Baburao Sanas Sports Ground on Tuesday. Intermittent showers throughout the day with spells of bright sunshine in the afternoon, made the practice session of the athletes far from a cosy affair. To tell the truth, the amount of pounding the tracks have received from the torrential rains over the past few days, may not render the surface unplayable, but it is sure to affect the timings of those, who are keen on going the extra-mile in their quest to give their best shot.
Obviously, it doesn’t need a rocket scientist to understand why all eyes would be riveted on Anju Bobby George when she takes guard in the long jump pit. The 30-year-old coming off a long injury lay-off owing to a heel injury has gradually paced herself in the groove, clocking a modest timing of 6.28 metres in the Guwahati leg of the event a few days back. But the Pune leg would present Anju a photo opportunity to clear the qualifying mark of 6.60 metres for the forthcoming World Athletics Championships to be held in Osaka, Japan, this August. It’s not going to be an Anju-show all the way.
The fierce rivalry between Sri Lankan sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe and Guzul Khubbieua of Uzbekistan would be renewed when the duo take the starting blocks in the women’s 100m event. Susanthika, the 2000 Sydney Olympics bronze medallist, finished a close-second to Khubbieua in both the first two legs at Bangkok and Guwahati. And this time around, Susanthika would be straining her last nerve to pull off a gold medal finish.
Triple jumper Renjith Maheshwary is another Indian, who would keep the spectators interested. Fresh from his twin gold-winning feats in Bangkok and Guwahati, where she scripted a new national record, the Kerala lad would be looking to make the most of the recent consistent shows and go into the forthcoming Asian Athletics Championship and the World Athletic Championships with a positive frame of mind.
His state-mate Sinimole Paulose is another Indian, who would be keenly watched. Sinimole is riding a wave of success, having bagged the women’s 1500m gold in the Bangkok and Guwahati and the talented metric-miler would be itching to make it a grand treble. Among the other Indians, the duo of Sunil Kumar and Surender Singh would be pushing hard to get into the medal bracket after swapping 1-2 positions in the Bangkok and Guwahati legs. All and said done, the stage is set for a day of scintillating action and the organisers might just be better served by uttering the rhyme ‘Rain, Rain Go Away.’ And who knows the weather gods might just relent.
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