National Games : Athletics Day 1

The backbone of the 34th National Games 2011 , the Track and Field events , got underway today at the Birsa Munda Athletics Stadium here in Ranchi. February is not an ideal month to register record timings in the World of Athletics as December – March is considered as an off-season but nonetheless we have the country’s best fighting it out for their respective states . The results would achieve prime importance as the Indian Athletics Team for the Olympic Qualifiers is set to be announced soon !

Men’s Shot Put

The Delhi – Haryana duo of Saurabh Vij and Om Prakash were at it again but this time it was Saurabh Vij who got the better of his compatriot with a throw of 18.90m which is excellent being in pre-season. Saurabhj Vij later spoke with the media (DD Sports) and expressed his satisfaction over the performance but did emphasize that his body was still not in shape to deliver the best.

Men’s 100m Heats and Semi-Finals

Services lad Shameer Mon registered the best time in the qualifiers amongst a healthy field comprising of Andhra’s Abdul Najeeb Mohammed and Maharashtra’s Krishnakumar Rane who would all fight in the finals tomorrow at 7pm to decide India’s fastest man !

34th Indian National Games 2011

Women’s Long Jump

As expected , Mayookha Johny earned Gold for Kerala with a 6.26m jump. Only Shraddha Ghule from Maharashtra could clear the 6m barrier as the rest of the field disappointed with their performances.

Women’s 100m Heats and Semi-Finals

With a National Record of 11.38sec the Women’s 100m event is probably one of the weakest in terms of quality that we can offer. Pole Vault being the other ! Karnataka’s Jyoti Manjunath was the only one who managed to register a time below 12sec in the heats which was repeated by her in the semis. Andhra’s Geeta Satti and Mounika Gaddam should give her a run for the Gold tomorrow though.

Men’s 10,000m

In the absence of Surendra Kumar it was all set for Soji Mathews and Sunil Kumar to fight for Gold but it was a magnificent run under 30 minutes from the UP lad ; Suresh Kumar , who took the honors and surprised everyone as Soji and Co misjudged Suresh’s run and sprinted late into the race led by Suresh. DD Sports correspondent later on spoke with Suresh Kumar – ” Its feeling really nice to clinch the Gold for my state . I have worked hard for this. But am not satisfied with this performance and I am aiming for the Olympics now “

Women’s 10,000m

In an epic run , Kavita Raut out ran her on field rival Preeja in the final sprint to clinch the Gold for Maharashtra. Preeja had set the pace from the start and Kavita responded magnificently throughout making sure her gap was not more than 50m.

Athletics Medal Tally Day 1