Shot putters disappoint, Mandeep Kaur qualify for 400m final

Thu, Oct 07 10 10:07 PM

Philem Dipak Singh New Delhi, Oct 7 (PTI) India''s medal hopes in shot put Om Prakash and Saurabh Vij fizzled out after finishing fifth and sixth respectively on the second day of the track and field competitions of the Commonwealth Games here today. Om Prakash threw the shot put to 19.51m, well below his personal best of 20.02m and season''s best of 19.99m. Vij, who was permitted to take part in the Games at the eleventh hour after his provisional suspension for flunking a dope test was lifted by NADA, was worse as he could clear only 18.60m against his personal and season''s best of 20.65m. Canadian Dylan Armstrong, the favourite to win the event and season''s leader among Commonwealth shot putters, won easily with a throw of 21.02m, though it was lower than his personal as well as season''s best of 21.58m. Jamaica''s Scott Dorian won the silver with a throw of 20.19m while Australia''s Dale Stevenson bagged the bronze with a personal best effort of 19.99m. As expected, no Indian could qualify for the 100m finals, despite a depleted field resulting from pull-outs of a slew of stars, including Usain Bolt. The two Indians in women''s 100m sprint, H M Jyothi and Geetha Satti failed to qualify for the finals as they finished sixth and seventh in their respective semifinals heats. Jyothi clocked 11.86secs, much below her personal best of 11.60secs and season''s best of 11.65secs, while Geetha clocked 11.82secs, a tad below her personal best of 11.80secs which she ran earlier this year in May. In men''s 100m sprint also, Mohd Abdul Najeeb Qureshi failed to qualify for the finals after finishing seventh in his semifinals heat, clocking 10.40secs. Qureshi had equalled Anil Kumar''s five-year old record of 10.30secs in the round two heats yesterday. In women''s hammer throw finals, India''s Hardeep Kaur finished 10th out of 12 competitors by clearing 59.96m. Canadian Sultana Friziel won the gold with a Games record effort of 68.57m while Carys Parry (64.93m) of Wales and Englishman Zoe Derham (64.04m) won the silver and bronze respectively. Mandeep Kaur was the only saving grace for the hosts as she qualified for the women''s 400m finals clocking 52.60secs in a semifinals heat. She will though start as the worst timer in the finals. Team-mate Manjeet Kaur failed to qualify despite finishing third in one of the heats at 53.04secs.

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