Kheta Ram sets NMR; Manpreet wins shot put

The qualification guideline set by the Athletics Federation of India for the men’s 5000m event was 13:54.11 for the Asian Games.

August 17, 2014 12:54 am | Updated April 21, 2016 03:58 am IST - PATIALA:

WINNING HANDS DOWN: With a throw of 16.20m on the fourth attempt,Manpreet Kaur won the shot put event at the 18th Federation Cup athleticschampionships on Saturday. Photo: Akhilesh Kumar

WINNING HANDS DOWN: With a throw of 16.20m on the fourth attempt,Manpreet Kaur won the shot put event at the 18th Federation Cup athleticschampionships on Saturday. Photo: Akhilesh Kumar

Kheta Ram shattered his guru Surendra Singh’s meet record, clocking 13:49.17 in the men’s 5000m, as the 18th Federation Cup athletics championships got off to a fine start at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) here on Saturday.

In cool conditions under an overcast sky in the morning, there was a lot of cheering from the Kheta Ram camp as the Rajasthan athlete proved too good for the trainees of Nikolai Snesarev.

Of course, Kheta Ram got a firm handshake from the foreign coach — who had been shouting instructions from the sidelines — after he beat Suresh Kumar by more than three seconds.

Given the quality of his running, the panel could consider Kheta Ram seriously when it meets to decide the Indian squad.

Suresh Kumar, who had led the pack till the last 200m, was ‘lost’ in the results compilation and Laxmanan of Tamil Nadu was credited with the silver initially. However, the correction was made once the matter was brought to the notice of the technical officials.

Olympian and national record holder in the 10,000m, Surendra Singh had set a mark of 13:51.64 in the 5000m in 2007.

The qualification guideline set by the Athletics Federation of India for the event was 13:54.11 for the Asian Games.

In the women’s 5000m, O.P. Jaisha proved too strong for the rest of the pack, which included Asian Games gold medallist and national record holder Preeja Sreedharan.

However, she could not come under the qualification guideline of 15:44.09, returning a time of 15:54.21.

World junior bronze medallist Navjeet Kaur, who took the oath on behalf of the athletes at the inauguration in the evening, failed to win a better medal in women’s shot put.

Navjeet fouled her first two throws and her fifth throw of 14.16, only her second mark, saw her beat Ketki Sethi (13.55) of Himachal Pradesh for the bronze by a mile.

Manpreet Kaur, the left-hander, beat fellow athlete and namesake from Punjab hands down with a throw of 16.20m on the fourth attempt.

In men’s javelin, Abhijit Mazumdar of West Bengal led the qualifiers with a best throw of 74.26m, while Ravinder Singh was second with 72.46.

The final will be held on Sunday.

The men’s high jump and pole vault, apart from women’s hammer throw, were in progress, when a power failure plunged the arena in darkness late in the evening.

The results: Men: 5000m: 1. Kheta Ram 13:49.17; 2. Suresh Kumar 13:52.58; 3. Laxmanan 13:57.07.

Women: 5000m: 1. O.P. Jaisha 15:54.21; 2. Preeja Sreedharan 16:23.07; 3.Swati Gadhave 16:46.46. Shot put: 1. Manpreet Kaur 16.20; 2. Manpreet Kaur 15.06; 3. Navjeet Kaur Dhillon 14.16.

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