Indian Railways team receiving the team trophy at the 2005 Indian Open National Athletic Championships (© Rahul Pawar)
The Indian Railways team overwhelmed arch rivals Services to capture both the men's and women’s team titles at the 45th Open National Athletic Championships which concluded yesterday (10 November) at G.M.C. Balayogi Stadium in Gachibowli near Hyderabad. Individually, it was the 800m runners who produced the finest efforts.
The Services team, comprised of male athletes from Indian Army, Navy and Air Force, dominated the national scene unbeaten for several years. However on Thursday (10 Nov) evening things went differently as the railway men garnered 176 points, 13½ points ahead of Services tally.
Ghamanda, Pinki steal the show
Be it a male or female, Indian half-milers are popular on the continent and noted in the global arena in the past with thanks to Sriram Singh, Charles Borromeo, Shiny Wilson and K.M. Beenamol for their efforts. Ghamanda Ram, the latest discovery on the Indian scene, is moving steadily to add his name to the Hall of Fame. Today, he clocked 1:46.67 for the win, the fastest time ever recorded by an Indian on home soil, but missed Singh’s national mark of 1:45.77 set at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.
Pinki Pramanik won the women’s race in 2:04.30. Pramanik, still 19, also won the 400 a day earlier in 53.29. Both athletes were selected as the best athletes of the championships.
Gurdev erases oldest National record
With three other men entered on the Services squad, Gurdev Singh entered this championship as a "camper." A regular participant in the 20K Race Walk, Gurdev, 25, was advised by his coach to take up the longer distance only recently. The 50K Race Walk - reinstated in the nationals after 20 years - saw the oldest entry from the Indian record books erased with Gurdev's 4:16:22. Though the record will go to Gurdev, his effort did not count in the team standings.
Elsewhere...
Returning after a two year compulsory lay-off, Naunidh Singh of Punjab set a new National record in high hurdles with his 14.05 clocking, eclipsing by .02 the previous mark set by Gurpreet Singh.
Sprinters Anil Kumar P., 32, and Poonam Tomar, 35, overcame the age factor to win the men's and women's 100m. Winning his fourth ONAC title in 10 years, Anil, who lowered the national record this year to 10.30, won handily in 10.46. Poonam, who reached a personal best 11.55 earlier this year, won here in 11.80.
Emergence of young athletes
Some notable performances were turned in by athletes in the 18-22 category: Javelin thrower Anil Kumar (76.31), sprinter Arvind (200m, 21.28), Triple jumper Renjith Maheswary (16.39) among the men and jumpers Prajusha and Tessymol Joseph among the women.
Once the prestigious capital of Nizams, Hyderabad saw the birth of two major sporting events: the first ever Asian Athletics Grand Prix in 2002, and the multi-sport Afro-Asian Games the following year. However it took 38 years for the nationals to return to this venue, fabulous for its glittering pearls and mouth-watering briyani!
With the 2007 edition of the CISM World Military Games scheduled for the same venue, Hyderabad has attracted more attention than ever for the Athletics Federation of India to choose it as a venue this year to select the nation’s athletes for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.
Ram. Murali Krishnan for the IAAF
