Tintu Luka, Renjith Maheswary ease to gold medals

CHENNAI: It was yet another day of mediocre showing on Day 2 of the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championship with no athlete touching the mark for an entry into the Beijing World Championships on Saturday. While the big names were not denied a podium finish they were a far cry from their impressive best.
PT Usha's protege and the overwhelming favourite Tintu Luka couldn't better the national record of 1:59.17 in 800m set by her in Brussels five years ago, clocking 2:03.23.
Kerala's Renjith Maheswary who cleared 16.66 to shatter the triple jump meet record at the National Games this year was far from his best on Saturday. A 16.39 jump was all that the Commonwealth Games bronze medallist could eke out for gold, with Punjab's Arpinder Singh clearing 16.30 for silver.