Athletes eye World Championship berths |
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JAMSHEDPUR: The fourth leg of the Indian Grand Prix, to be held here on Sunday, assumes special significance for the likes of Hari Shankar Ray, Ma
ha Singh, Prakash Verma and H M Jyoti.
All these athletes are aiming to qualify for the World Championshipsto be held in Berlin in August, and the friendly and familiar ambiance of Jamshedpur might just be the right place to do so.
Another athlete who was within grasping range of a World Championship berth, and might have sealed it here, will miss out due to a death in the family.
Bibin Mathew of Railways, the winner of the men’s 400m title at the first three Indian Grand Prix, lost his grandfather a week back and is yet to recover from the shock. "He was very attached to his grandfather and I don’t think he will be able to qualify for the World Championships this time," his coach Harbans Singh said.
Mathew and the other athletes have been performing well, but there’s still a bridge to gap if they are to meet the world standards. Take the case ofBengal-based Railways employee Roy as an example.
The high jumper has hit the 2.20m mark this year, but then he’ll have to improve upon his career-best of 2.25m in order to qualify for the World Championships. The qualifying mark of 2.28m is not beyond Roy, but it is a mental jump that the athlete might find too high to scale.
Roy’s best is also the national record and no Indian has ever threatened that mark since his amazing leap on September 28, 2004 in Singapore. Even Roy would surprise himself if he surpasses that mark here, yet he is willing to give it a shot.
Bibin Mathew was a lot closer to the B qualifying mark of 45.95s than it would seem. Mathew clocked 46.16s in the Chennai Grand Prix and would have tested KM Binus national mark of 45.48s, set four years ago.
http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Athletes-eye-World-Championship-berths/articleshow/4626011.cms