Title - Railways athletics: Merlyn, Manikandan emerge fastest on a dull day

The weather remained overcast, the track water-logged and the standards average. No wonder, day two of the 79th Railways athletics championships was a dull affair.The fact that the first session of the day consisted mainly of decathlon events also meant that there was hardly any interest among those witnessing the action.For the record, Manikandan was the fastest man of the tournament with a timing of 10.59 seconds in the 100m. Merlyn K Joseph was the fastestwoman, setting a time of 11.84 seconds in the 100m.The inclement weather meant organisers rushed to complete as many events as possible every time there was a break in the rain.It was a sight to see the men and women competing simultaneously in the 20km walk across the track.

Poor conditions

In between, pouring rain meant the walkers had to walk around and splash through puddles of water on the track — which legendary runner Bahadur Prasad said was a tell-tale sign of the track being laid incorrectly.After a point, most athletes appeared resigned to performing in constant rain but were clearly more concerned about their safety than a good performance.

“What bad conditions to compete in, but what can we do. I have to run tomorrow also but it’s just ok, most of us are simply performing for participation. How can anyone be motivated to give their best,” said Preeja Sreedharan, the National record holder and women’s 10,000m winner.

The hammer throw, javelin throw and shot put events were shifted out to the warm-up area and the long jump and triple jump events delayed because of the rains.

Officials professed helplessness but the fact remains that the weather at this time of the year is always expected to be a wet in the city.

The results: Women: 100m: 1. Merlyn K. Joseph 11.84s, 2. M. Sharda 12.03, 3. Asha Roy 12.14; 10,000m: 1. Preeja Sreedharan 34:51.05s, 2. L. Surya 35:03.35, 3. Sanakki Thippava 37:24.85; 3000m steeplechase: 1. Lalita Babar 10:45.07s, 2. Priyanka Patel 11:01.39, 3. M.V. Neethu 11:36.98; 100m hurdles: 1. K.V. Sajitha 14.20s, 2. M.M. Anshu 14.31, 3. P.M. Manju 14.69; High jump: 1. Sahana Kumari 1.76m, 2. Mallika Mondal 1.70, 3. N.K. Siji 1.65; Triple jump: 1. M.A. Prajusha 13.29m, 2. Amita Baby 12.46, 3. V. Neena 12.05; Shot put: 1. Manpreet Kaur 14.28m, 2. Pinki Dey 12.80, 3. Saraswathi 11.95.

Hammer: 1. Manju Bala 57.13m, 2. Gunjan Singh 54.49, 3. Sarita Singh 54.32; 4x100m relay: 1. Southern Railway (K.A. Sonia, Chavi Sherawat, P.K. Priya, N. Shardha) 47.03s, 2. Western Railway (Akicha Gazi, P.M. Manju, K.V. Sajitha, Merlyn Joseph) 47.41, 3. Eastern Railway (Arjina Khatun, Tanjila Khatun, Priyanka Mondal, Asha Roy) 47.4.

4x400m relay: 1. Southern Railway (Diana Clinton, K.A. Sonia, Sini Jose, Chavi Sherawat) 3:51.95s, 2. Central Railway (Liksy Joseph, Aparna, Niksy Joseph, Sushma Devi) 3:52.21,3. Western Railway (Manisha Devi, Merlyn K. Joseph, N Anitha, Sarita) 3:54.84; 20km walk: 1. Rani Yadav 1:49:27.28s, 2. Shanti Kumari 1:54:29.68, 3. Anita Mahala 2:03:05.61.

Men: 100m: 1. Manikandan 10.59, 2. Ganesh Satpute 10.76, 3. Manikanda Arumugam 10.76; 10,000m: 1. Rati Ram Saini 30:34.41s, 2. Soji Mathew 30:40.81, 3. Ajay Veer Singh 30:52.41; 3000m steeplechase: 1. Sachin Patil 9:19.17s, 2. S. Mahendra 9:20.71, 3. Jiya Lal Bind 9:21.08; 110m hurdles: 1. A Suresh 14.23s, 2. M. Pinto 14.56, 3. Muthuswamy 15.05; Triple jump: 1. Amarjeet Singh 15.18m, 2. Baskar 14.29, 3. Maha Singh 14.48; Shot Put: 1. Ashwani Solanki 17.10m, 2. Satyender Kumar 16.92, 3. Sunil Kumar 16.10.

Hammer: 1. Talwinder Singh 62.49m, 2. Azad Ahmed 61.86, 3. Sukhdev Singh 58.87; Javelin: 1. Rajender Singh 71m, 2. Sharath Raj 66.99, 3. K.N. Tripathi 65.31; Decathlon: 1. V.V. Raneeszh 6463 points, 2. Omveer Singh 5879, 3. Rambir Singh 5823; 4x100m relay: 1. Southern Railway (M. Prakash, Manikandan Arumugam, Arunjith, Balamurugan) 41.09s, 2. Western Railway (Manjesh Kumar Yadav, Raja Oommen, A. Pinto Mathew, B.G. Nagaraj) 43.00, 3. South Eastern Railway (Chandan Mahto, Ajay Naik, Rabi Das, Sukendu Mondal) 43.13.

4x400m relay: 1. Southern Railway (P.S. Srijith, Joseph Abraham, V.B. Binish, Bibin Mathew) 3:19.90s, 2. South Western Railway (R. Deepak, Prashanth, S. Bharath, Vishamber Kolekar) 3:23.53, 3. Western Railway (Avin Thomas, Sanjay, A. Pinto Mathew, Jithin Paul) 3:27.38; 20km walk: 1. Maniram Patel 1:32:20.5s, 2. Romit 1:38:52.42, 3. Ashok Patel 1:45.55.17.