Just a couple of months ago, they had a disastrous Commonwealth Games where they dropped the baton but on Thursday, only positive thoughts were running in their minds. The Indian women’s 4x400m relay team won the gold at the 17th Asian Games here on Thursday night, their fourth straight triumph at the Continental Games, and it came with a Games record too.
India got a bronze too, through the Haryana-based shotputter Inderjeet Singh, who a silver at the World University Games in Russia last year.
With two girls, Tintu Luka and M.R. Poovamma, who had won medals in individual events here over the last couple of days, the mile relay team was high on confidence. In fact it was Tintu, running a brilliant second leg, who gave the squad the lead after Priyanka Pawar came in fourth after the opening leg.
The third leg, run by Mandeep Kaur, was close but India hung on to the lead. Poovamma, running the anchor leg, made it look easy and brought home the team with a big lead in 3:28.68s, breaking India’s own Asiad record of 3:29.02 which came in Guangzhou four years ago.
India has been winning the women’s mile relay gold since the 2002 Asiad in Busan. Two of the girls in today’s team, Mandeep Kaur and Priyanka Pawar, were caught in the doping scandal in 2011 and handed out two-year suspensions which ended last year.
“We were confident of winning the gold, in fact we were targeting the Games record,” said Tintu.
“When Mandeep came in, I think we had a two-metre lead and the plan was to go all out. We had run a very fast race in the trials in Patiala earlier so, we were sure of the gold and the record,” said Poovamma who is one of Asia’s top 400m runners this season. “That Commonwealth Games baton drop did not cross our mind at all…such things happen but today, we were high on confidence.”
Meanwhile the 26-year-old Inderjeet, who posted a personal best of best of 19.89m while winning the Federation Cup in Patiala in August, won the men’s shot put bronze in 19.63m.
Looking for a job
“I’m happy but I could have done much better had my coach Pritam Singh been here, the (chilly) conditions were not ideal and the competition was also too late today,” said Inderjeet who hails from Punjab. “I hope this medal gets me a job. I’m also the first Indian to silver medal at the World University Games but nobody seems to care about university medals, however big it is.”
Arpinder Singh, the Commonwealth Games bronze medalist and the Asian leader in the event this season, was a big letdown in the men’s triple jump finishing just fifth with a mediocre 16.41m. The 21-year-old from Punjab had raised hopes of a medal here after breaking the national record with his 17.17m at the Inter-State National in Lucknow a few months ago.
Arpinder’s best, 16.41m, came in his opening effort and he four fouls after that. Former national record holder Renjith Maheswary, the other triple jumper in the fray, continued his shocking run finishing ninth with a best of 15.67.
O.P. Jaisha, who won a bronze in the women’s 1500m earlier, ran another brave race, this time in the 5000m while finishing fourth in a personal best 15:18.30.
The Kerala-born distance runner hung on stubbornly to the lead pack for a major part of the race, despite the fast pace and quality runners like Bahrain’s Ethiopia-born Maryam Yusuf Jamal and Mimi Belete, and finished with a personal best.
Two other Indian distance runners, Rahul Kumar Pal and Suresh Kumar, also impressed while finishing fourth and fifth in the men’s 10,000m with personal bests.
The results:
Men: 10,000m: 1. Elhassan Elabbassi (Brn) 28:11.20s, 2. Osaka Suguru (Jpn) 28:11.94, 3. Issac Korir (Brn) 28:45.65, 4. Rahul Kumar Pal (Ind) 28:52.36, 5. Suresh Kumar (Ind) 28:58.22. 4x100m relay: 1. China (37.99s, Asian record, OR 38.03, Japan, 2007), 2. Japan (38.49), 3. Hong Kong (38.98). 4x400m relay: 1. Japan (3:01.88s), 2. South Korea (3:04.03), 3. Saudi Arabia (3:04.03), 4. India (Kunhu Muhammed, Joseph Abraham, Jithin Paul, Arokia Rajiv) 3:04.61.
Triple jump: 1. Cao Shuo (Chn) 17.30m, 2. Dong Bin (Chn) 16.95, 3. Kim Deokhyeon (Kor) 16.93, 5. Arpinder Singh (Ind) 16.41, 9. Renjith Maheswary (Ind) 15.67.
Javelin throw: 1. Zhang Qinggang (Chn) 89.15m (Asian record, OR 87.60, Kazuhira Mazoguchi, Jpn, 1989), 2. Ryohei Arai (Jpn) 84.42, 3. Ivan Zaytsev (Uzb) 83.68. 11. Rajender Singh (Ind) 73.43. Shot put: 1. Abdul Majeed Alhebshi (KSA) 19.99m. 2. Chang Ming Huang (Tpe) 19.97, 3. Inderjeet Singh (Ind) 19.63, 9. Om Prakash Singh Karhana (Ind) 16.94.
Women: 5,000: 1. Maryam Yusuf Jamal (Brn) 14:59.69s, 2. Mimi Belete (Brn) 15:00.87, 3. Deng Changqin (Chn) 15:12.51, 4. O.P. Jaisha (Ind) 15:18.30, Preeja Sreedharan (Ind) 15:39.52. 4x100m relay: 1. China (42.83s, Games Record, OR 43.36), 2. Kazakhstan (43.90), 3. Japan (44.05), 6. India (Sharadha Narayana, Asha Roy, Srabani Nanda, H.M. Jyothi) 44.91. 4x400m relay: 1. India (Priyanka Pawar, Tintu Luka, Mandeep Kaur, M.R. Poovamma (3:28.68s, Games record, OR 3:29.02, India, 2010), 2. Japan (3:30.80, 3. China (3:32.02. High jump: 1. Svetlana Radzivil (Uzb) 1.94m, 2. Zheng Xingjuan (Chn) 1.92, 3. Nadiya Dusanova (Uzb) 1.89, 8. Sahana Kumari (Ind) 1.80. Marathon: 1. Eunice Kirwa Jepkirui (Brn) 2:25.37s, 2. Ryoko Kizaki (Jpn) 2:25.50, 3. Lishan Dula Gemgchu (Brn) 2:33.13.
