India draws a blank in Athletic Worlds
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Moscow: Triple jumper Renjith Maheswary flopped yet again in a big event as he failed to qualify for the final round to mark a disappointing end to India's campaign in the 14th IAAF World Championships here today.
Maheswary finished sixth in Group A qualification round and 13th overall with a best jump of 16.63m, which was well short of his national record of 17.07m and his season's best of 16.98m. Those who could clear 17.05m or at least 12 best performers qualify for the final round.
The last qualifier, Gaetan Saku Bafuanga Baya of France also cleared 16.63m but he made to the final round on countback as his second best jump (16.37m) was better than that of Maheswary (16.28m). Maheswary, who has been recommended for this year's Arjuna Award, has been criticised as a choker in big events as he had returned with no marks in the 2011 World Athletics Championships in Daegu, Japan and in the 2012 London Olympics.
Today, his attempts were all legal but he was nowhere near his best as he began with a disappointing 16.08m and cleared 16.63m in his second attempt before a 16.28m in his last jump. Teddy Tamgho of France was the lead jumper with 17.41m going into the final round.
In the women's 4x400m relay, the Indian quartet also failed to qualify for the final round as they finished last in the five-team heat number one and 14th overall to bring curtains on India's campaign. The quartet of Nirmala, Tintu Luka, Anu Mariam Jose and M R Povamma, who had won gold in the Asian Championships in Pune last month, clocked a below-par 3:38.81 in their heat. They had clocked three minutes 32.26 seconds in Pune.
Only first two in each of the three heats and the next two fastest qualify for the final round. Ashwini Akkunji, who made it to the six-member squad just days after ending her two-year period for a doping offence, did not run in the race.
The Russian quartet topped the timings with 3:23.51s, followed by United States (3:25.18s) and Great Britain (3:25.39s) going into the final round. India had sent 15 athletes in the World Championships but none of them have come up with any creditable performance.
Discus thrower Vikas Gowda finished seventh while Khusbir Kaur was 39th in women's 20km Race Walk though she created a national record in the process. Sudha Singh had failed to qualify for the women's 3000m steeplechase final round after finishing 23rd overall in the heats.
In men's 20km Race Walk, Gurmeet Singh and Chandan Singh had finished 33rd and 34th respectively while national record holder K T Irfan was disqualified after being at sixth spot at the halfway mark. Basanta Bahadur Rana finished 33rd while Sandeep Kumar was disqualified for rule violations in the men's 50km Race Walk.
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