Indian athletes disappoint, as expected

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Sydney: Indian athletes once again proved a major disappointment in the opening session as the athletics competition of the 2000 Olympics got underway, throwing open the question whether it was necessary to send such a huge contingent of almost 30 athletes.

Four of the five Indians seen in action in the first session crashed out and their performances were way below their best recorded in India. Not one of the four seen - Shakti and Bahadur Singh in men's shot put, Paramjit Singh in men's 400m and Jagdish Bishnoi in javelin - in the morning made an impression and none were anywhere near qualification for the next stage.

The two shot putters, Shakti Singh and Bahadur Singh, proved to be the biggest flops. National record holder, Shakti Singh, was more than two metres behind his best of 20.60m, as he managed only a best of 18.40m and one of his throws was just 17.96m. Bahadur Singh, also a 20-metres plus thrower at home, was a little better with 18.70m.

Never have Indian throwers done better abroad than at home and Friday was just another instance of it. The 38-year-old Shakti could not even get close to 19.77m, which he touched at the Asians in Jakarta last month while winning the gold medal.

Bahadur Singh had just one legal throw and that came on the first throw as he touched 18.70m. He fouled the next two attempts. Coach Bahadur Singh, when queried said, "The last athlete to get in (into the final 12) was with 19.79m. That is within Shakti and Bahadur's reach but unfortunately they could not." Familiar question, and even more familiar answer.

In the overall analysis, Bahadur finished 27th and Shakti 32 out of the 37 throwers. In the men's 400 meters, Paramjit Singh, in the outermost lane, took off rather slow. He was out of reckoning even before the race had become 200m old.

In the last 100m he looked stiff and ended sixth out of seven runners in 46.64 seconds. His heat was won by American Alvin Harrison, who clocked the day's only sub 45-seconds time, 44.96 seconds. Paramjit's personal best of 45.56 seconds was clocked on the domestic circuit.

India's sprints coach Harbans Singh said, "Paramjit's run was disappointing. I expected him to run under 46 seconds." In the overall standings, Paramjit's 46.64 seconds placed him 49th of the 64 finishers.

Jagdish Bishnoi in javelin was also almost 10 metres short of his best. Bishnoi, credited with 79.68m in the entry list, managed just 70.86m ending up 15th out of 18 starters in his group. Konstantinos Gatsioudis of Greece was the topper in the group with 88.41, way better than the qualifying mark of 83.00 metres.

It was not as if the Asians were totally out of the picture in the morning. Asian runners dominated the men's 400m eighth heat, picking up the top three places. Asian

Championships silver medallist at Jakarta in August, Hamdan Al-Bishii of Saudi Arabia was first in 45.22 seconds. He was the second fastest qualifier in the first round with his time being second only to Alvin Harrison. Behind Al-Bishii in the heats was Asian champion, Ibrahim Ismail of Qatar, who timed 45.48s, the same as Sri Lankan Sugath Tillekeratne. But the Lankan was judged second.

In the women's 100 metres first round, Sri Lankan runner, Susantika Jayasinghe, won her heat in style in 11.15 seconds and moved into the second round.

India Abroad News Service