Festive ambience at stadium

There was a touch of festive ambience at the J.N. Stadium on Monday. The venue is gearing up to host the third and final leg of the Asian Grand Prix athletics meet on Wednesday.

Over 300 competitors from 19 countries, including India, are getting ready to test their mettle in the event. Actually, the programme was spread over for two days.

The Indian leg of the GP was reserved for the campers training for the Commonwealth Games on June 8.

But for want of sufficient entries, the host Tamil Nadu Athletics Association and the Asian Athletics Association have been compelled to hold both the meets on the same day. The same was done in Bangalore too.

Limbering up

Athletes were seen limbering up on the track and near the pits. There was a motley collection from India, Uzbekistan, Iran, Oman and Kazakhstan on the field getting familiar with the conditions, more importantly, the weather, which was humid, despite the cloudy patches that hung like a canopy over the stadium.

Detailing the features of the meet, Walter I. Dawaram, President, TNAA, explained the reasons for compressing both the IGP and AGP in a single day. On Wednesday, the IGP competitions would be held in six events from 2 p.m. and the AGP events comprising 16 events would follow from 5 p.m.

He was optimistic that the first international meet in the metropolis after the 1995 SAF Games would be rewarding for everyone.

Pat for the winners

He complimented the medal winners, Ranjith Maheswary and Krisha Poonia, who have shown marked improvements in the two earlier meets held at Pune and Bangalore.

Maurice Nicholas, Secretary, Asian Athletics Association, was happy that the quality of performances proved the calibre of the stars. He added that the Asian junior championships in Hanoi from July 1 to 4, and the Asian All Stars' meet, the test event on July 29-30 before the Commonwealth Games in Delhi would help measure the depth of Asian talent.

Among those venturing to get into the rhythm for Wednesday's programme was Tintu Luka, a prodigy trained by P.T. Usha. Happy that Tintu had recovered from food poisoning after the Pune meet, Usha was confident of her ward performing better in Chennai.

Tintu was pushed to a silver medal in Pune and missed the next edition at Bangalore owing to indisposition. The rangy Uzbek star, Svetlana Radzivil, was also training hard to better her personal best of 1.98m in high jump.

The Uzbek delegation headed by Kesnia Ziyakhodjaeva, was pleased by the hospitality and the professional manner in which the events were held in Pune and Bangalore.

The State meet, however, will begin on Tuesday.