Annu Rani improves own javelin national mark, makes Asian cut
PATIALA: Uttar Pradesh’s Annu Rani shook off self-imposed shackles to rewrite the women’s national javelin record with a winning throw of 62.34m in the Federation Cup athletics here on Sunday, qualifying for next month’s Asian Championships and the September World Championships in Doha.
Annu Rani had set the previous national mark of 61.86m in 2017. She sent the javelin flying past the 58.00m set by Athletics Federation of India (AFI) as the qualifying mark for the Asian meet. The mark for the worlds is 61.50m. A delighted Annu now wants to focus on her technical shortcomings. “My next goal is to cross 63m. Focusing on improving technical aspects, including slow release of the javelin, should sort out the problem (of achieving the goal).”
The thrower’s struggles over the last 15 months included a poor show at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games. Annu Rani put that down to a mental block, which she shook off after a confidence boost achieved by working with new coach Baljit Singh. “I was doing better in training but couldn’t find the right rhythm in competition. And poor show added to the pressure and I started losing faith in my ability to give my best in competition,” she said.
“I’m confident of raising the bar in Doha. A 63m plus throw will be the stepping stone for the world championships.”
In men’s 10,000m, the top five finishers met the Asian qualifying mark of 29:50.00 secs. Gujarat’s Gavit Murli Kumar won the slow race in 29:21.9secs.
I n women’s pol e vaul t , Krishna Rachan of Kerala set a meet record clearing 4.06m, bettering the previous mark of 4.05m set by VS Surekha in 2014.
Odishsa’s Dutee Chand qualified for the women’s 100m final and Assam’s Hima Das entered the 400m final. Both events are slated for Monday. POOR SHOW
Men’s discus proved to be a damp squib. Gagandeep Singh’s winning throw of 53.30m was way below the Asian meet qualifying mark of 60m, exposing a lack of depth in the event.
The national record of 66.28m was set in 2012 by Vikas Gowda. He won two back-to-back Asian titles (2013, 2015), the second one in Wuhan, China at 62.03m. He had also qualified for the final at the London Olympics, finishing eighth.
Deputy national coach Radhakrishan Nair said a “lack of good coaching system” was a key reason for the decline in discus. “We might have good throwers in youth and junior levels but they don’t graduate to seniors because of wrong training in formative years,” he said.
Doping is also a major problem among throwers at the formative stage, said a former national coach. He pointed to the recent provisional suspension of promising Services thrower Dharam Raj Yadav after failed dope test. He faces a four-year ban if proved guilty. He came 11th in the 2017 Asian meet.
“With the leading throwers struggling to cross 55m, it looks unlikely that someone will step into Gowda’s shoes in the near future,” Nair said.