Asia
takes pride in inaugural Grand Prix circuit
By an IAAF Correspondent
9 June 2002 - Singapore - The idea of an Asian Grand Prix circuit might have
been mooted way back in late 80s by the Asian Amateur Athletic Association (AAAA),
but it materialized only last month. Three meets were held in this inaugural
year, at Hyderabad in the southern part of India, in Bangkok, the Thai capital,
and Manila in the Philippines. In modest fields - with many notable absentees -
spread out in 15 events, the Indians were the major beneficiaries of the
new-found riches in Asian athletics, their shot putters sweeping the medals in
all the three legs.
Performances and incentives, not to speak of participation levels, were generally below par. Yet, the AAAA, especially its President, Mr. Suresh Kalmadi of India, and the Secretary-Treasurer, Mr Maurice Nicholas of Singapore, can take pride in the fact that finally they have a circuit, nascent though it may be, which can only grow from now on.
For that to happen, the AAAA will have to boost the prize fund which it provided this time ( 158,000 dollars) but has indicated that it might not be able to the next time around, leaving it to the staging units to find sponsors. It will also have to attract the very best from Asia while attempting to enlarge the circuit from three meets to at least five or six.
The promise of fielding the top six from the continent in each of the 15 events (nine for men and six for women) could not be met for various reasons this time, though there was a fair sprinkling of top-level athletes in at least some of the events. The late announcement of the circuit, not to mention the preparations of various nations towards two important competitions this season, the Asian Games in Busan, Korea, in September-October and the Asian championships in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in August (and in some cases the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, too) resulted in below-par fields in a majority of the events.
The Indians swept the men’s shot put medals, though it could be pointed out that the former Asian champion, Saad Bilal Mubarak of Qatar was a last-minute withdrawal, reportedly due to an injury. It is debatable whether Mubarak would have given the Indians a run for their money or not. That the Indian success came about despite the absence of their top man, Shakti Singh, again because of an injury, should underline the depth the country has in this event. (In fact, exactly a week after the Manila meet, at the Indian National championships at Bangalore, the top three crossed 19.40, with Shakti Singh winning at 19.79.)
The Chinese, notwithstanding their busy domestic schedule, sent a few of their top-notchers, but none of them, barring woman high hurdler Su Yiping, performed up to expectations. Su Yiping had a 12.91 (wind-reading not known) in the last leg in Manila apart from winning at Hyderabad and Bangkok, too.
The top two Chinese javelin throwers, Li Rongxiang and Zhang Lianbiao competed but only the former managed to come anywhere near potential and reputation. Li Rongxiang won in Manila with a 78.27, while he was a silver medallist (75.57) behind Uzbek Sergey Voynov (76.00) at Hyderabad. Voynov threw the best, an 81.25 in Bangkok, that catapulted him to the top of the Asian lists for the season at that point of time. Zhang Lianbiao’s best for the three legs was the 67.41 at Bangkok. That he finished without a medal in the circuit should be cause for some concern to the Chinese in the Asian Games context. He had won the silver behind Voynov last time, just a centimeter ahead of Li Rongxiang.
Kuwait’s Fawzy Dahesh Al-Shammari underscored his rising stature in the one-lap event, sweeping the gold medals in all the three legs. Having clocked a 44.93 while winning the Doha Grand Prix, just three days earlier, ahead of Jamaican Mike McDonald and Saudi Arabian Hamdan Al-Bishi, Al-Shammari was on a high when he arrived in Hyderabad. He coasted to a 45.42 win there and followed up with a 45.73 and a 45.20 in Bangkok and Manila.
Al-Bishi was missing from the circuit and there was no news of Qatari Ibrahim Ismail, taking some of the sheen away from the 400 metres. But the 23-year-old Al-Shammari’s complete domination in a field, which included the Asian Games champion, Sugath Tillakeratne of Sri Lanka, should be a pointer for the more important phase in the continental season that lies ahead. Tillakeratne was in fact pushed to the bronze spot by team-mate Rohan Pradeep Kumara at Manila. Not for the first time he was beaten by his countryman.
Another youngster, like Al-Shammari, who laid low a couple of big names was Indian K. M. Binu. The 22-year-old Binu, younger brother of K. M. Beenamol, who made the semifinals in the women’s 400 metres in the Sydney Olympics, won a tactical battle in the 800 metres at Bangkok, after having finished second in a personal best 1:47.52, behind Korean Lee Jae-Hoon, at Hyderabad. Boxed in while entering the straight at Hyderabad, Binu positioned himself well in a slow race in Bangkok and came through in 1:50.10. Kim Soon-Hyung, the reigning Asian champion in the 1500 metres, could manage only the second place despite a gallant attempt. Binu could not keep up the pace in Manila when the tempo picked up thanks to Filipino Joh Lozada, who eventually went onto clock a national record of 1:47.77 for the silver. Lee took the gold in 1:47.06, the fastest for the three legs, while Binu ended up sixth.
Beenamol also had a profitable series, scoring over Sri Lankan Damayanthi Darsha, for the first time, in the 400 metres at Bangkok, where rains, just prior to the start of the meet, seemed to have affected everyone. Darsha, double gold medallist at the last Asian Games and Asian championships, won at Hyderabad and Manila to keep her reputation intact. She also won the 100 metres at Hyderabad but was beaten in the short dash by India’s Saraswati Saha at Bangkok and Manila. Without the Chinese and the Sri Lankan, Susanthika Jayasinghe, the women’s sprint neither had the class nor the glamour..
The men’s sprint, without the top Japanese and the Chinese, provided a perfect platform for the Thais to perform. Reanchai Siharwong, the 1998 Asian Games silver medallist, won at Hyderabad in 10.55 while team-mate Sittichai Suwornprateep scored in Bangkok and Manila. The top Indian, Anil Kumar, was absent due to a quadriceps injury. The reigning Asian champion, Jamal Abdal Al-Saffar of Saudi Arabia was originally entered but pulled out.
In the absence of another top Saudi, Olympic 400m hurdles silver medallist, Hadi Soua’an Al-Somaily, Badar Aman Al Fulazi of Kuwait made a clean sweep of the titles The 400m hurdles event itself looked to have been included in the programme with Al-Somaily and Japanese Dai Tamesue in mind, but without them there was never going to be much interest .
There was a keen tussle in men’s high jump between Korean Lee Jin-Taek and the Chinese, Zhou Zhongge and Wang Zhouzhou, but the heights remained around the 2.22m mark in all the legs, with Lee winning at two venues. Triple jump provided a better fare with Saudi Arabian Salem Mouled Al Ahmadi reaching up to 16.92 in Bangkok for a top-20 mark at the world level this season. He also won at Hyderabad and Manila. Thai Nattaporn Namkhana had a national mark of 16.66 while finishing second at Bangkok.
In the women’s contests, the most heartening feature for India must have been the consistency of long jumper Anju B. George, who claimed the silver behind Kazak Yelena Kascheyeva in all the three meets. Another prominent performer from the Indian side was Neelam Jaswant Singh in discus, an event dominated by the Chinese, Song Aimin and Ma Shuli. Without doubt, the fight for supremacy in women’s discus, in the two major continental meets to come later this year should be between the Chinese and Neelam J. Singh, with another Indian Harwant Kaur, a disappointment after a 60.08 start at Hyderabad, being a peripheral player. The Chinese surely have the edge right now.
Results:
HYDERABAD, May 18:
Men : 100m (+0.50): 1. Reanchai Siharwong (Tha) 10.55, 2. Clifford Joshua (Ind) 10.57, 3. Anand Menezes (Ind) 10.57, 4. Sittuichai Suwaraprateep (Tha) 10.68, 5. Piyush Kumar (Ind) 10.71, 6. Denis Kondratyev (Kaz) 10.76.
400m : 1. Fawzy Dashash Al Shemmeri (Kuw) 45.42. Sugath Tillakeratne (Sri ) 45.73, 3. Rohan Pradeep Kumara (Sri) 46.05, 4. Bhupinder Singh (Ind) 46.14, 5. P.Ramachandran (Ind) 46.28, 6. K. J. Manojlal (Ind) 46.47.
800m :1. Lee Jae-Hoon (Kor) 1:47.40. 2. K.M. Binu (Ind) 1: 47.52, 3. Kim Soon-Hyung (Kor) 1: 47.91, 4. Mikahil Kolganov (Kaz) 1: 47.92, 5. Redouane Ifane Joddouh (Syr) 1: 51.03. 6. Sanjeev T. M (Ind) 1: 51.97.
3000m : 1. T. A. Sivananda (Ind) 8:16.83, 2. Eduardo Buenavista (Phi) 8: 19.62, 3. Arun D'Souza (Ind) 8: 32.79, 4. Jagannath Lakade (Ind) 8: 35.27, 5. Chung Man Yong (Kor) 9:08.66.
400m hurdles: 1. Badar Aman Al Fulazi (Kuw) 49.13, 2. Yevgeny Meleshenko (Kaz) 49.66. 2. Chen Tein Wen (Tpe) 51.72, 4. Hani Murhej (Syr) 53.64. 5. Abhishek Pandey (Ind) 53.86. 6. Ravindra Mahamuni (Ind) 55.08.
High jump :1. Zhou Zhongge (Chn) 2.22, 2 Lee Jin-Taek (Kor) 2.22,. 3. Bae Kyungho (Kor) 2.18, 4. Loo Kumzee (Mal) 2.10, 5. Omveer Singh (Ind) 2.05, 6. Arosha Ranga Pigeira (SL) 2.00.
Triple jump:1. Salem Mouled Al Ahamadi (KSA) 16.84 (+0.10), 2. Sergey Arzamasov (Kaz) 16.51 (-0.85), 3. Evgeniy Petin (Uzb) 16.02 ( +0.50), 4. Amarjit Singh (Ind) 15.86 ( + 0.96), 5. Nattapom Namkhana (Tha) 15.80 ( -0.50).
Shot put : 1. Bahadur Singh Sagoo (Ind) 19.32, 2. Navpreet Singh (Ind) 19.01, 3. Kuldeep Mann (Ind) 18.05, 4. Wang Zhiyong (Chn) 17.50, 4. Jaiveer Singh (Ind) 17.49.
Javelin :1. Sergey Voynov (Uzb) 76.00, 2. Lee Rongxiang (Chn) 75.57, 3. Jagdish Boishnoi (Ind) 74.71, 4. Harminder Singh (Ind) 73.78, 5. Chu Ki Young (Korea) 73.22, 6. Zahid Hussain (Pak) 72.44.
Women : 100m: 1. K.V. Damayanthi Darsha (Sri) 11.52, 2. Poonam Tomar (Ind) 11.68, 3. Saraswati Saha (Ind) 11.71, 4. Viktoria Kovireva (Kaz) 11.72, 5. Orranut Klomdee (Thai) 11.79, . 6. Kavita Pandya (Ind) 11.80s, 7. V. Jayalakshmi (Ind) 12.12.
400m: 1. K.V. Damayanthi Darsha (Sri) 51.87, 2. K. Mathews Beenamol (Ind) 51.96, 3. Alyona Petrova (Tkm) 53.81, 4. Jincy Phillip (Ind) 53.96s. 5. Svetlana Bodritsyaka (Kaz) 54.00, 6. Manjit Kaur (Ind) 54.28, Udaya Laxmi (Ind) 54.64.
800m:1. Wang Yuanping (Chn) 2: 04.13, 2. Tatyana Borisova (Kgz) 2: 04.21, 3. Madhuri Singh (Ind) 2: 04.63, 4. Sunita Kumari (Ind) 2:07.63, 5. Harjit Kaur (Ind) 2:08.67, 6. Geeta Manral (Ind) 2:08.78.
100m hurdles (+0.2): 1. Su Yiping (Chn) 13.03, 2. Trecia Roberts (Tha) 13.33, 3. Sriyani Kulwansa (Sri) 13.50, 4. Moh Siew Wei (Mas) 13.66, 5. Kumiko Ikeda (Jpn) 13.78, 6. Anuradha Biswal (Ind) 14.08.
Long jump : 1. Yelena Kashcheyeva (Kaz) 6.59 (+ 0.50), 2. Anju B George (Ind) 6.58 (0.00). 3. Jetty C. Joseph (Ind) 6.30 (+ 0.74), 4. Kumiko Ikeda (Jpn) 6.25 (0.00), 5. J. J. Shoba . (Ind) 6.22 (0.00).
Discus: 1. Ma Shuli (Chn) 60.51, 2. Harwant Kaur (Ind) 60.08. 3. Song Aimin (Chn) 57.74, 4. Neelam J Singh (Ind) 57.63, 5. Seema Antil (Ind) 55.75, 6. Swaranjit Kaur (Ind) 54.74.
BANGKOK, May 21:
Men: 100m: (+0.50): 1. S. Suwornprateep (Tha) 10.62, Reanchai Siharwong (Tha) 10.70, 3. Clifford Joshua (Ind) 10.77, 4. Anand Menezes (Ind) 10.79, 5. Hamood Abdullah Said Al Daihami (Omn) 10.81, 6. Denis Kondratyev (Kaz) 10.88.
400m: 1. Fawzy Dahash Al Shemmeri (Kuw) 45.73, 2. Sugath Tillakeratne (Sri) 45.95, 3. Rohan Pradeep Kumara (Sri) 46.24, 4. P. Ramachandran (Ind) 46.58, 5. Bhupinder Singh (Ind) 46.85, 6. Mohd Zaiful Bin Zainal (Mas) 47.39.
800m: 1. K. M. Binu (Ind) 1:50.10, 2. Kim Soon Hyung (Kor) 1:50.32, 3. Lee Jae Hoon (Kor) 1:50.44, 4. Mikhail Kolaganov (Kaz) 1: 50.51, 5. Redouane Ifane Joddouh (Syr) 1:51.31, 6. K. J. Manojlal (Ind) 1:53.99.
5000m: 1. T. A. Sivananda (Ind) 14: 39.65, 2. Eduardo Buenavista (Phi) 14:40.77, 3. Jirasak Sutichat (Tha) 15:16.38, 4. Boonyu Kawratanakajorn (Tha) 16:41.57.
400m hurdles: 1. Badar Aman Al Fulazi (Kuw) 49.53, 2. Chen Tien Wen (Tpe) 49.94, 3. Yevgeniy Meleshenko (Kaz) 50.35, 4. Apisit Kuttiyawan (Tha) 51.95, 5. Jirachai Linglom (Tha) 53.16, 6. Hani Murhej (Syr) 53.26.
High jump: 1. Lee Jin-Taek (Kor) 2.22, 2. Zhou Zhongge (Chn) 2.20, 3. Bae Kyungho (Kor) 2.18, 4. Wang Zhouzhou (Chn) 2.11, 5. Loo Kumzee (Mas) 2.11, 6. Arosha Bangana Pigeira (Sri ) 2.06.
Triple jump: 1. Salem Muled Al Ahmadi (KSA) 16.92 (-0.8), 2. Nattapon Namkhana (Tha) 16.66 (+2.0), 3. Sergey Arzamasov (Kaz) 16.04 (+0.4), 4. Evgeniy Petin (Uzb) 15.80 (+0.5), 5. Kitsak Sukon (Tha) 15.25 (+0.8), 6. Supawar Klunjai (Tha) 15.24 (+0.9).
Shot put: 1. Navpreet Singh (Ind) 18.92, 2. Bahadur Singh Sagoo (Ind) 18.85, 3. Kuldeep Mann (Ind) 18.28, 4. Wang Zhiyong (Chn) 18.16, 5. Jaiveer Singh (ind) 17.76, 6. Chatchawal Polyemg (Tha) 16.96.
Javelin:
1. Sergey Voynov (Uzb) 81.25, 2. Jagdish Bishnoi (Ind) 75.77, 3.
Fazal Ansari (Ind) 72.82, 4.
Zahid Hussain (Pak) 72.29, 5. Lee Rongxiang (Chn) 69.91, 6. Zhang Lianbiao (Chn)
64.68.
Women: 100m: (-1.2): 1. Saraswati Saha (Ind) 11.66, 2.
K. V. Damayanthi
Darsha (Sri) 11.81, 3.
Poonam Tomar (Ind) 11.87, 4.
Viktoria Kovyereva (Kaz) 11.91, 5. Orrnut Klomdee (Tha) 11.97, 6. Kavita Pandya
(Ind) 12.08.
400m: 1. K. M. Beenamol (Ind) 51.97, 2. K. V. Damayanthi Darsha (Sri) 52.20, 3. Alyona Petrova (Tkm) 53.66, 4. Svetlana Bodritskaya (Kaz) 53.85, 5. Jincy Philip (Ind) 54.12.
800m: 1. Wang Yuanping (Chn) 2:04.81, 2. Madhuri A. Singh (Ind) 2:05.05, 3. Tatyana Borisova (Kgz) 2:05.14, 4. Geeta Manral (Ind) 2:08.22, 5. P. Udaya Laxmi (Ind) 2:13.02.
110m hurdles (-1.3): 1. Su Yiping (Chn) 13.38, 2. Trecia Roberts (Tha) 13.47, 3. Sriyani Kulawansa (Sri) 13.50, 4. Moh Siew Wei (Mas) 13.86, 5. Kumiko Ikeda (Jpn) 14.06, 6. Anuradha Biswal (Ind) 14.20.
Long jump: 1.Yelena Kashcheyeva (Kaz) 6.63 (0.0), 2. Anju B. George (Ind) 6.53 (0.0), 3. Kumiko Ikeda (Jpn) 6.34 (0.0), 4. Wachari Rithiach (Tha) 6.22 (0.0), 5. Warunee Kittibirun (Tha) 6.09 (+0.1). 6. Kitina Muangun (Tha) 5.83 (+0.4).
Discus: 1. Song Aimin (Chn) 58.04, 2. Neelam J. Singh (Ind) 57.23, 3. Ma Shuli (Chn) 56.80, 4. Harwant Kaur (Ind) 55.21, 5. Miyoko Naruse (Jpn) 49.90, 6. Juthaporn Krasaeyan (Tha) 43.97.
MANILA, May 26:
Men: 100m (+3.0): 1.S. Suwonprateep (Tha) 10.28w, 2. Reanchai Siharwong (Tha) 10.47w, 3. Denis Kondratyev (Kaz) 10.51w, 4.Clifford Joshua (Ind) 10.54w, 5. Hamoud Abdullah Al-Dalhami (Omn) 10.55w, 6. Mohamed Abdullah Al-Houti (Omn)10.58w.
400m: 1. Fawzy Dahesh Al-Shammari (Kuw) 45.20, 2. Rohan Pradeep Kumara (Sri) 46.61, 3. Sugath Tillakeratne (Sri) 46.81, 4. P. Ramachandran (Ind) 47.26, 5. Mohd Zaiful Zainal Abidin (Mas) 47.64, 6. K.J. Manojlal (Ind) 48.06.
800m: 1. Lee Jae-Hoon (Kor) 1:47.06, 2. John Lozada (Phi) 1:47.77, 3. Kim Soon Hyung KOR 1:48.19, 4. Mikhail Kolganov (Kaz) 1:48.38, 5. Redouane Ifane Jaddouh (Syr) 1:48.70, 6. K.M. Binu (Ind) 1:50.68.
3000m: 1. Edward Buenavista (Phi) 8:17.14, 2. T.A. Shivananda (Ind) 8:22.14, 3. Rene Herrera (Phi) 8:37.54, 4. Crisanto Canillo (Phi) 8:54.42, 5. Noel Bautista (Phi) 9:22.17, 6. Rio De La Cruz (Phi) 9:39.39.
400m hurdles: 1. Bader Abdulrahman Aman (Kuw) 49.96, 2. Yevgeniy Meleshenko (Kaz) 50.34, 3. Domingo Manata (Phi) 53.18, Chen Tien-Wen (Tpe) DNF.
High jump: 1. Lee Jin-Taek (Kor) 2.20, 2. Wang Zhouzhou (Chn) 2.18, 3. Bae Kyung-Ho (Kor) 2.18, 3. Zhou Zhongge (Chn) 2.11, 4. Loo Kum Zee (Mas) 2.08, 5.Sean Guevara (Phi) 2.05, 6. Arosha Rangana Pigeira (Sri) 2.02.
Triple jump: 1. Salem Mouled Al-Ahmadi (KSA) 16.74, 2. Nattaporn Namkanha (Tha) 16.13, 3. Sergey Arzamasov (Kaz) 16.12, 4. Yevgeniy Petin (Uzb) 15.24w, 5. Raphie Pilaspilas (Phi) 14.38, 6. Roland Canta (Phi) 14.17.
Shot put: 1. Bahadur Singh (Ind) 19.30, 2. Navpreet Singh (Ind) 18.62, 3. Jaiveer Singh (Ind) 17.99, 4. Wang Zhiyong (Chn) 17.80, 5. Kuldeep Singh Mann (Ind) 15.63.
Javelin: 1. Li Rongxiang (Chn) 78.27, 2. Sergey Voynov (Uzb) 76.94, 3. Mohd Fazal Ansari (Ind) 72.31, 4. Jagdish Bishnoi (Ind) 71.93, 5. Zahid Mahmood Hussain (Pak) 71.25, 6. Zhang Lianbiao (Chn) 67.41.
Women: 100m (+1.4): 1. Saraswati Saha (Ind) 11.52, 2. Oranut Klomdee (Tha) 11.58, 3. Lerma Bulauitan-Gabito (Phi) 11.61, 4. Poonam Tomar (Ind) 11.62, 5. Viktoriya Koviyreva (Kaz) 11.67, 6. Kavita Pandya (Ind) 11.97.
400m: 1. K.V.Damayanthi Darsha (Sri) 52.98, 2. K. M. Beenamol (Ind) 53.28, 3. Alyona Petrova (Tkm) 53.74, 4. Svetlana Bodritskaya (Kaz) 54.41, 5. Jincy Philip (Ind) 54.58, 6. P. Udaya Laxmi (Ind) 56.36.
800m: 1. Wang Yuanping (Chn) 2:09.27, 2. Madhuri A. Singh (Ind) 2:09.42, 3. Tatyana Borisova (Kgz) 2:09.60, 4. Geeta Manral (Ind) 2:11.65, 5. Ann Barcenas (Phi) 2:26.45.
100m hurdles: 1. Su Yiping (Chn) 12.91, 2. Trecia Roberts (Tha) 13.10, 3. Sriyani Kulawansa (Sri) 13.26, 4. Moh Siew Wei (Mas) 13.39, 5. Anuradha Biswal (Ind) 13.89, 6. Kumiko Ikeda (Jpn) 13.98.
Long jump: 1. Yelena Kashcheyeva (Kaz) 6.50, 2. Anju B. George (Ind) 6.45, 3. Maristella Torres (Phi) 6.38w, 4. Lerma Bulauitan-Gabito (Phi) 6.38, 5. Kumiko Ikeda (Jpn) 6.24.
Discus: 1. Ma Shuli (Chn) 60.70, 2. Song Aimin (Chn) 59.13, 3. Neelam J. Singh (Ind) 57.22, 4. Harwant Kaur (Ind) 56.28, 5. Miyoko Naruse (Jpn) 48.43, 6. Rosely Hamero (Phi) 41.41.
