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Gold eludes Indian athletes

Even as China completed a successful domination of the Asian Junior Athletics championships, India added five more silver and one bronze to their tally as the four-day meet came to an end at the National stadium in Singapore today.

The Chinese defended their overall title with 17 gold, 12 silver and three bronze medals, while Japan and Qatar finished behind in that order. For India, a gold medal remained elusive even as it bagged seven silver and four bronze.

However, the Chinese domination this time was somewhat lesser than previous years. In the last championships, China had 23 gold and Japan five.

For India, a gold medal was as close as 0.73 seconds in the men's 10km walk, but a gritty Chinese held on, and India's Gurdev Singh, despite a great finish, ended with a silver. In a sterling display of courage, China's 17-year-old Wang Shigang won a well-deserved gold.

Though the event was held in the morning, the heat affected all the walkers and Wang was shaky as he entered the home stretch. There was a time when it seemed he might simply fall and not finish the event. But he carried on, swaying from one side to other.

Meanwhile, India's Gurdev Singh was closing in on him rapidly in the last 50-70 metres, yet Wang just about held on and collapsed as he crossed the finish, less than a second ahead of the Indian. Wang timed 44 minutes, 55.0 seconds, while Gurdev was timed 44:55.73 seconds. The winner later had to be taken to hospital.

In the men's 10,000 metres N Gojen Singh gave India another silver. Gojen, who was sixth in the 5,000 metres, finished behind Makhid Al Otabi. The winner clocked 30 minutes 11.05 seconds, while Gojen clocked 30:30.91seconds. Kazushi Hara of Japan was third.

Geeta Manral gave India its third silver of the day from the women's 1,500 metres. She clocked 4:25.25 seconds, as Kazhak girl, Irena Bodkoryova came first in 4:22.61 seconds. China's Jun Liyan was third in 4:25.51seconds. Manral beat the Chinese girl just at the finish.

India's 4 x 100 metres relay team looked set for a gold, as Vinita Tripathi received the baton first, but China's Qin Wangping ran a brilliant anchor leg. She made up almost eight metres and won the gold for China in 46.05 seconds. India's were second in 46.22, while Japan third in 46.46. India's four runners were Mandeep Kaur, Kalpana Reddy, S Geetha and Tripathi.

Another silver came India's way in the 4 x 400 metres relay. India again had a chance for the gold, but poor exchange proved their undoing. R Sukumari, S Geetha, Tripathi and Sanghamitra formed the Indian quartet. China won the gold in 3:39.50 seconds, while India were second in 3:41.62 and Japan third in 3:42.55.

Kuldeep Singh Mann, among the front runners for a gold, managed only the third place in men's shot put with a best of 16.88 metres. Gholoum Ahmed of Kuwait was first with 17.87 metres and Wei Cong of China second with 17.58 metres.

For India, Vinita Tripathi, with three silver (200m and two relays) and S Geetha, one bronze and two silver (400m and the two relays) were the msot successful athletes.

Qin Wangping, the latest sprint sensation from China, made it a treble when she made up a ten-metre deficit to anchor her 4 x 100m relay team to a great win. Qin had earlier won the 100m and 200m.

The Chinese team of Liu Li, Zhu Jianhong, Cui Lin and Qin clocked 46.05 seconds, while the Indians, who led the race till the last leg, were second in 46.22 seconds.

Qatar's Ahmed Musa took the decathlon gold with a record-setting 7,387 points, while China's Wen Cao was second on 7.292. Malik Tobias of Malaysia was third with 6,868. It was Malaysia's only medal of the meet.

UNI