Indian athletics was hit hard by a dope scandal in 2011, taking away some big performers. But, a decent show resulting in a sixth place finish with 17 medals in the Asian Athletics Championships, has shown that it is getting back on track. New faces taking centrestage has renewed hope and offers promise, writes Abhishek Purohit
One of the most frequently asked questions before the start of the 20th Asian Athletics Championships (AAC) was could India better its previous edition's (Kobe 2011) medal haul of 12IJ
A team of 110 athletes (56 men and 54 women) worked hard over five days to win 17 medals (five more than Kobe) in the recently concluded biennial event held at Shree Shiv Chattrapati Stadium in Pune, to answer that question.
However, to limit it to just 17 medals and finishing sixth on the medals table, which are merely statistical numbers and hide many stories like big names underperforming, fall of yesteryears’ stars, players who delivered on expected lines, emergence of new heroes, surprise victors and most importantly the signs for the future, will be a fallacy.
To start with the big names who underperformed, Tintu luka, Sudha Singh, Renjith Maheswary and Mayookha Johny disappointed the most.
Steeple chaser Sudha, who was the season leader before the championships and hot favourite to win gold, had to settle for silver for two reasons. First due to the brilliant performance by Bahrain's 17-year-old sensation Ruth Jebet, who recorded the best timing of the current season when she completed the 300m race within 9.40.80s. And second, slight ‘stiffness’ in her muscles just before the final race. The season leader Sudha finished in 9.56.84s — much below than her recent national record timing of 9.45.60s.
"I felt tightness in my muscles. We waited for the event for some time before the start. I believe that was it," Sudha reasoned.
Similarly, everyone expected gold from another world championships qualifier Maheswary. But he found himself short by just one centimetre to finish second to China's Cao Shuo (16.77). The 2007 winner Renjith had jumped 16.98 during an inter-state meet just a month ago but couldn't reach anywhere near to that mark at the ACC.
In fact, it was Arpinder Singh who gave the hosts a reason to cheer. Unheralded Arpinder jumped 16.58m to win bronze.
legendary PT Usha's protégé Tintu, who won bronze in the previous edition, looked set to buck the trend as she maintained lead till the first 600m in the 800m race but later ran out of steam but managed to end up at the podium. Usha pointed out after the race that Tintu made some technical errors during her run. She should have conserved her energy for the dash in the later stage.
Defending champion Mayookha’s effort of 6.30m couldn’t save the title but she did well to give India it’s first medal of the ACC on the very first day in the long jump despite fitness issues. Her show of 6.30m was a lower one as compared to gold medal winning show of 6.56m in 2011 or her career best 6.65m. She avoided the triple jump event.
"I would say that Sudha has slightly underperformed. She was very good during trials and in other competitors. She couldn't pick up the pace that day. But, rest of the athletes had a decent outing as you see Renjith lost by a centimetre on a day where rain hampered the run-ups," national chief coach Bahadur Singh told The Pioneer.
In the bracket of fallen yesteryear stars feature discus thrower Krishna Poonia and middle-distance runners Kavita Raut, Preeja Sreedharan and Sahana Kumari.
Krishna's performance was hampered by groin injury. The Olympian could throw only 55.01m and finished fourth. Other notable discus thrower Seema Antil faltered too. Except carrying Indian flag, Krishna did nothing of note.
Kavita and Preeja, the multiple medalists were making comebacks after their marriages and this affected their performances. Olympian high jumper Sahana finishing outside the podium (fourth) didn't help the hosts' cause.
Emphatic ones
Discus thrower Vikas Gowda, Shot Putter Om Praksh Karhana are the ones who performed according to their reputations. Gowda clinched gold with a decent throw of 64.90m. However, what took the sheen out of the event was the absence of london Olympics silver medal winner Ehsan Hadadi of Iran. It made the road to top of the podium easier for Gowda. Karhana, the 2009 Asian champion, too displayed much valour to take bronze.
The bright ones
20-year-old Chennai-lad K Prem Kumar thrilled one and all by winning a silver-medal in long jump. He jumped 7.52m to win the medal. Kumar, during the Inter-State Meet prior to the event, had scaled 8m. However, at Pune, his effort was marred by extremely windy conditions. But, it failed to take away the moment of pride for one of the brightest prospects, who also became first Indian men in 13 years to claim a medal in the event after Sanjay Rai.
Other notable performances were of two youngsters — Asha Roy and 17-year old Dutee Chand in the 200m. The duo won silver and bronze respectively. Also, Satinder Singh snatched a bronze in the 400m hurdles.
Big moment
Another star of the event was MR Poovamma. After failing to earn gold in the 400m race, Poovamma atoned for it with an exhilarating dash while playing the role of an anchor in the 4x400m relay race.
Poovamma was expected to take gold in the 400m category after staying undefeated in all races this year. But she floundered.
later on, the young long-limbed athlete combined with Nirmala (fellow 400m competitor who finished fourth), Anu Mariam Jose and Tintu to win gold in the 4x400 relay.
The Indian relay team was hit by the dope scandal in 2011 which wiped out all its multiple gold medal winning members — Ashwini Akkunji, Manjit Kaur, Mandip Kumar, Sini Jose.
Putting the shock behind, Indian women’s relay team managed to win silver in Kobe. But, the gold was missing. This time, this flamboyant quartet managed to pull off a sensational race in front of a big Sunday crowd and give the hosts' second gold medal. This ensured that once a dominant force in the Asian circuit, relay team regain its position. To double the happiness, the team also qualified for the World Athletics Championships starting in Moscow from August 10.
"Poovamma is a very improved athlete. We had expected a gold in the 400m as well. But, I believe inexperience undid her. However, she and the other members in the relay team performed exceedingly well and it was a great finish. With more training and more experience, she will certainly produce more good results in the coming years," Bahadur adds.
For now, the former champions — Ashwini and Co have to wait for their turn to show that they are better than this new batch to be part of the team in future.
Surprising victors
No one expected Ratiram Saini to beat seasoned Kheta Ram and take bronze in the 10,000 men's race. Same is the case with Samarjeet Singh, who took bronze home in javelin throw. Jithin C Thomas (silver in high jump) and J Hemashree (bronze in 100m hurdles) also fall in this category.
"I am greatly impressed with the performances of the young men and women. Especially, the way the junior girls displayed superb form, was exemplary. Not only for the medal winners, also there are athletes who have missed out on medals slightly. This is a very good performance. We have medals in almost every event. And we have youngsters coming off as well to steal the limelight. This will go down as an all-round show with good signs for the future," the former Asian champion shot putter, summed up.
With the many young faces leaving their mark and some of the seasoned campaigners delivering to their potential, this edition of AAC ended on a brighter note. Except P Udaya laxmi’s failure in dope test after which she was excluded from the team, there was no dull moment. Everything went in a satisfied manner for India as it ended with most number of medals in 13 years.
It signals India's rise, after a series of non-performance and a couple of dope scandals, as a sporting powerhouse in Asia.