CM’s trophy athletics: Praveen emerges fastest

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The second and final day of the CM’s trophy state level athletic meet belonged to established stars.

The gulf in class between experienced performers and newcomers from districts was clear, as the likes of Surendhar, Suresh, Prem Kumar, Gayathry, Saradha Narayanan, Saraswathy, Pappathi and Surya faced little competition. There were no surprises in the 15 finals conducted at the Nehru Stadium on Saturday.

V. Praveen Muthu Kumaran claimed the 100m gold comfortably. The Madurai boy, who is doing his graduation at Coimbatore’s PSG College, marked his first senior meet with a storming run.

Never once did he appear to be overawed by the presence of experienced campaigners in other lanes.

He had built up enough lead that the result was a foregone conclusion by the 80m mark. It was even easier for Saradha in the women’s short sprint. The Southern Railway runner strolled to the finish line as there was no one to push her.

Praveen said his confidence was sky high before and during the race. “I had a fine start. Then I found my rhythm to finish the job.

This title is special because it is my first at the senior level,” said Praveen, who had won gold in last week’s national junior inter-zone meet at Pune.

Saradha said there was no competition for her. “I knew it would be easy for me because most of the competitors were my juniors. I hope there would be stiffer challenges next year,” the articulate athlete said.

Suresh of Madurai made it two-in-a-row at the Nehru Stadium by winning the 110m hurdles in 14 seconds flat. Earlier this month, he had won the national open athletic championship.

G. Gayathri, on a comeback trail, nailed the women’s hurdles in 14.2 seconds.

J. Surendhar is a National Games gold medallist in the 110m but he proved his mettle in the triple jump. The versatile Chennai star, coached by M.V. Rajasekhar, finished on top with an effort of 16.01m.

“Even though I had trained for the triple jump only for a couple of days, I was able to cross 16 metres,” Surendhar, a Loyola student, said.

L. Suriya, a gold medallist in the 5,000m and the 10,000m at the open nationals, cantered to the 3,000m title. A. Pappathi, another national level achiever, scooped the 400m crown. Ace long jumper K. Prem Kumar, who had set a new national junior mark (7.96m) last Saturday, was in a class of his own as he added the CM’s trophy to his kitty with an effort of 7.61m.

Results

Men: 100m: 1. V. Praveen Muthu Kumaran (Madurai) 10.5s, 2. N. Vijayakumar (Chennai) 10.7, 3. M. Al Ameen (Ramanathapuram) 10.9. Long jump: 1. K. Prem Kumar (Thanjavur) 7.61m, 2. Wayne Peppin (Chennai) 7.34, 3. A. Rositto Sax (Tirunelveli) 7.17. 800m: 1. P. Francis Sahayaraj (Namakkal) 1:52.5s, 2. P. Karthik (Coimbatore) 1:54, 3. N. Padmanabhan (Kancheepuram) 1:56.6. Javelin: 1. G. Sathish (Kancheepuram) 60.47m, 2. H. Michael Justin (Tirunelveli) 60.05, 3. T. Suthish (Theni) 58.56. 110m hurdles: 1. A. Suresh (Madurai) 14s, 2. T. Balamurugan (Chennai) 14.1, 3. K. Premkumar (Cuddalore) 14.3. Shot put: 1. N. Shankar (Kancheepuram) 14.79m, 2. Santhosh Kumar (Tiruchy) 14.67, 3. Chidambaram (Thoothukudi) 13.76. Triple jump: 1. J. Surendhar (Chennai) 16.01m, 2. S. Mohammed Salahuddin (Coimbatore) 15.57, 3. D. Arivuselvan (Theni) 15.32.

Women: 100m: 1. Saradha Narayanan (Chennai) 11.8s, 2. S. Archana (TV Malai) 12.1, 3. R. Kowsalya (Coimbatore) 12.4. Javelin: 1. S. Saraswathy (Coimbatore) 46.92m, 2. R. Jothimani (Kancheepuram) 39.48, 3. P. Madhupriya (Karur) 39.20. 3,000m: 1. L. Suriya (Pudukottai) 9:48.3s, 2. S. Padmavathy (Coimbatore) 10:34.3, 3. A. Kaleeshwari (Namakkal) 11:01.2. 400m: 1. A. Pappathi (Tiruchy) 55.8s, 2. T. Renuka (Karur) 56.7, 3. T.S. Kavitha (Kancheepuram) 57.9. Long jump: 1. Delphin Rani (Thanjavur) 6.13m, 2. G. Karthika (Nagapattinam) 5.83, 3. Surekha Renjith (Chennai) 5.50. 100m hurdles: 1. G. Gayathry (Kancheepuram) 14.2s, 2. V. Hani (Chennai) 14.6, 3. Hema Sree (Coimbatore) 14.7. High jump: 1. G. Mary Shalini (Kancheepuram) 1.60m, 2. S. Shibani (Coimbatore) 1.55m, 3. M. Arockia Elizabeth Rose (TV Malai) 1.55. Discus: 1. U. Vasumathy (Kanyakumari) 41.72m, 2. E. Hema Priya (Thanjavur) 37.38, 3. V. Chitra (Tirunelveli) 36.32.