The country’s top athletes participating in the men’s 50km race surprised all by breaking the standing national record at the Indian Grand Prix meet in Patiala. All four athletes came under the previous record of 4:16.22 set by Gurdev Singh in 2005. The day’s honour, however, went to Basant Bahadur (in picture) from SSCB who finished the race in 4:10.42. Babu Bhai — a favourite to take the title — finished fourth.The performance of the top middle-distance runners in the 800m and 1500m was also encouraging. They, however, promised to improve on their showing in next week’s Federation Cup in Bhopal. More than performances, it was the stiff competition in the men’s 800m and 1500m events that stood out. Though Delhi’s Ravinder Kumar Singh upset C Hamza — a favourite to win the men’s 1500m — his finishing time, at 3:43.04, was five seconds over the Beijing qualification mark.The men’s two-lap race also saw exciting moments. Fomer national champion Ghamanda Ram, who is coming back after a long hiatus and who looked likely to cause a major upset, only managed a third place finish. Chitra K Soman, winner of the 400m race here, said she was satisfied with her performance of 53.19 seconds. “It is the first outdoor race for me, I hope to do better in the coming competitions,” said Chitra, who has set herself a big target for the coming months. “I hope to clock below 51 seconds by the end of July.” Ambitious task! National record holder in men’s triple jump Renjith Maheswary was a little rusty and far from his best. Of his six attempts, 15.83m was his best. “We are aiming for a good performance in Beijing,” said Renjith’s coach, SS Pannu. Both will leave for the US for advance training soon. • All winnersMen’s: 50 km walk: Basant Bahadur SSCB 4:10.42; Shot put: Om Prakash (national camp) 18.27; Triple jump: Amarjit Singh (Rlys) 16.30m; 400m: Virender Kumar (PP) 47.51; 800m: Rajeev Ramesan 1:50.43; 1500m: Ravinder (national camp) 3:43.04; 5,000m: Surendra Singh 13:46.47.Women’s: High jump: Sahana Kumari (Kar) 1.80m; Discus throw: Harwant Kaur (PP) 58.54m; 400m: Chitra K Soman (ONGC) 53.19 s; 800m: Sushma Devi (national camp) 2:07.57;1500m: Sinimol Paulose (national camp) 4:16.53; 5000m: Preeja Shridharan (national camp) 15:57.70.
