MUMBAI: African domination continued at the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon as Kenya's Laban Moiben and Ethiopian Netsanet Abeyo bagged the top honours in men's and women's categories in the ninth edition on Sunday.
Among the Indians, veteran long distance runner Ram Singh Yadav booked his berth for the London Olympics.
Moiben, whose previous best timing in a marathon was 2:09:44 -- set in Ottawa in May 2010 -- won the race in a photo finish as he completed the 42-km race in 2:10:48.
Ethiopian Raji Assefa also clocked 2:10:48 but was adjudged second after photo finish results while compatriot John Kyui (2:10:54) was third.
Fatuma Sado (2:30:20) and Makda Harun (2:30:47), followed Abeyo (2;26:12) to complete an all-Ethiopian sweep in the women's category.
The top winners in the two categories got a prize money of USD 36,000 each.
Tanzania's Dickson Marwa and Simon Kasimili were the initial pace setters as they exchanged the lead position during the the first 15 km stretch.
However, after the initial surge, Marwa fell behind and it was here that Kyui and Moiben began their domination. It was at about the 30km stretch that Moiben took the lead which he held throughout.
However, it was a close tussle for the two runners-up places which Assefa and Kyui finally managed to grab.
Yadav, who held the course record for the Indians here -- 2:18:03 set in 2009 -- finally fulfilled his potential as he completed the race in 2:16:59, bettering Olympic qualification timing of 2:18 hours. The Armyman was followed by Elam Singh (2:18:27), who narrowly missed qualification, and T A Rajesh (2:24:25).
Yadav said that his armymates Elam Singh and Karan Singh, who ultimately faded out after being in the lead in the Indian bunch to finish 20th, had given him good competition after he tried to match the Kenyans initially.
"I started strongly and tried to keep pace with the Kenyan runners for 2-3 km but realised that if I continued to do so I would fade out at the 21-22 km mark. Elam Singh and Karan Singh were hot on my heels and I was afraid I would be beaten too by them," said Yadav, who became the eighth Indian athlete to attain the qualifying mark for the London Games.
The other Indians who have achieved the mark are: Vikas Gowda (men's discus), Krishna Poonia (women's discus), Mayookha Johnny (women's triple jump), Tintu Luka (women's 800m), Gurdev Singh, Babubhai Panucha (men walkers with Gurdev attaining A mark and Panucha reaching B mark) and Om Prakash Singh (men's shot put).
"The weather was very helpful this time and there was no head wind too which also helped," Yadav added.
Army coach AS Mathew was also very emotional at his ward Yadav reaching the mark and also felt that the weather played its part.
"It was the best weather since the inception of the Mumbai Marathon. It was to the advantage of the runners. He had missed the qualifying mark earlier narrowly," said Mathew.
Mathew, who said a number of runners had trained at Wellington near Ooty ahead of the race, also took the opportunity to take a pot shot at the Athletics Federation of India for having given a 45-day break to the campers.
"They have a 45-day break. No other country does this. But the good news is that AFI has decided now, after my talks with Mr Dogra (AFI director) that 4 women and 6 men marathoners will be supported well," said Mathew.
Elam Singh said he was quite satisfied with his performance as he had converted from steeplechase to marathon running only 10 months ago.
"I am pleased with my performance. It was my first marathon. I was a 3000m steeplechase runner. It's a huge change from running 3 km to 42 km," said Bishnoi. — PTI
Showing posts with label Mumbai Marathon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mumbai Marathon. Show all posts
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Top two Indian female finishers in Mumbai Marathon disqualified
MUMBAI: The top two Indian women finishers in the Mumbai Marathon 2011 on Sunday were disqualified after being found guilty of not completing the route, organisers said.
"The two athletes - Waheeda Khan and Vidya Mehta, who 'completed' the race in just over two hours and 45 minutes, to bag the top two spots were disqualified by an IAAF jury, after the other participants lodged a complaint saying that they had not seen them overtaking them," former Asian Games gold medallist and the co-ordinator for Elite Indian Athletes for today's event Sunita Godara said.
Following their disqualification, Jyoti Gawate 3:05:30 (overall 16); Shastri Devi 3:08:15 (overall 18) and M Sudha 3:10:52 (overall 19) were named the top three Indian finishers after over four and half hours of delay.
According to Godara, the 'running chips' of Khan and Mehta revealed that they were on track till the 18 km point, but they did not cross the 24.2 km checkpoint at Bandra Reclamation and accidentally took the half-marathon route, missing about nine kilometres of the course.
After learning that she had come fourth, Shashtri Devi, who was the top Indian female finisher here last year, objected to the result and complained about it with the authorities, who then took up the matter.
"It was an unfortunate incident. I know both the girls. They can never cheat. They followed the route without realising it. I have spoken to them. Both Khan and Mehta have admitted that they made a mistake and hence are not contesting the decision," Godara said.
Both of them will participate in the national games to be held in Ranchi next month, she said.
The top Indian finishers among men (Binning Lyngkhoi) and women (Gawade) were awarded $6,000 each.
"The two athletes - Waheeda Khan and Vidya Mehta, who 'completed' the race in just over two hours and 45 minutes, to bag the top two spots were disqualified by an IAAF jury, after the other participants lodged a complaint saying that they had not seen them overtaking them," former Asian Games gold medallist and the co-ordinator for Elite Indian Athletes for today's event Sunita Godara said.
Following their disqualification, Jyoti Gawate 3:05:30 (overall 16); Shastri Devi 3:08:15 (overall 18) and M Sudha 3:10:52 (overall 19) were named the top three Indian finishers after over four and half hours of delay.
According to Godara, the 'running chips' of Khan and Mehta revealed that they were on track till the 18 km point, but they did not cross the 24.2 km checkpoint at Bandra Reclamation and accidentally took the half-marathon route, missing about nine kilometres of the course.
After learning that she had come fourth, Shashtri Devi, who was the top Indian female finisher here last year, objected to the result and complained about it with the authorities, who then took up the matter.
"It was an unfortunate incident. I know both the girls. They can never cheat. They followed the route without realising it. I have spoken to them. Both Khan and Mehta have admitted that they made a mistake and hence are not contesting the decision," Godara said.
Both of them will participate in the national games to be held in Ranchi next month, she said.
The top Indian finishers among men (Binning Lyngkhoi) and women (Gawade) were awarded $6,000 each.
Ethiopians Assefa, Yal win Mumbai marathon
Ethiopians Girma Assefa and Koren Yal set new course records as the African nation took the men's and women's honours respectively in the eighth edition of the Mumbai Marathon on Sunday.
Assefa completed the gruelling 42.195-km run in 2 hours, 09 minutes and 54 seconds, erasing the previous record of 2:11:54 seconds, set by Kenya's Kenneth Mungara two years ago.
He was followed by compatriot Botor Segaye Wolde, who clocked 2:09:57s.
Kenya's Patrick Muriuki was third with a timing of 2:10:00s. All three were under the two-year course record of 2:11:51s.
Two-time winner and favourite John Kelai, who won at the Delhi Commonwealth Games, placed a poor sixth in 2:11:05s.
"I am happy to have won. I will come back to Mumbai again and participate in the marathon next year," the 24-year-old Assefa from Addis Ababa said after his triumph.
The men's and women's winners took home US $36,000 each.
Aseefa (No 8) is flanked by Muriki (No 13) Wolde at the victory ceremonyOver 38,000 people participated in the annual run, which was flagged off by Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayanan amid tight security from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.
The men's marathon was a close affair all the way with the lead changing regularly. Kenya's Simon Kasimili broke away from a bunch of 15 runners to take the lead early and stay ahead till around the 10-km mark at Haji Ali. But once his job of doing the early pacing was over, he let countryman Kipkemei Mutai surge ahead at the half-way mark.
From hereon it was a battle royale as Muriuki stepped up the pace and forged ahead at the end of the Bandra-Worli sea-link.
After the end of the 32-km mark, it was Wolde who broke away and snatched the lead. However, Assefa, who judged his pace to perfection, came up with a blistering burst on the home stretch to emerge a worthy winner.
The women's run saw an all-Ethiopian top-three finish as Yal clocked 2:26:56s to break the course record set by countrywoman Mulu Seboka in 2008.
Merima Mohammed was second in 2:29:04s, while Elfemesh Alemu placed third with a timing of 2:30:04s.
Jyoti Gawate of Maharashtra emerged the best Indian woman, with a timing of 3:05.30s. She was followed by last year's winner Shastri Devi of Maharashtra, who timed 3:08.15s. M Sudha of Hyderabad, who was third, clocked 3:10.52s.
The women's results had to be altered following the disqualification of Vahida Khan and Vidya Mehta, who both originally finished first and second.
Among Indian men, the army's Lyngkhoi Binning, Angad Kumar and Ram Singh Yadav finished first, second and third respectively.
Lyngkhoi, who was the top Indian finisher in the last edition, repeated the feat in a slow timing of 2:21:16s, well off Ram Singh Yadav's course best of 2:18:03s, set in 2009.
Angad was second in 2:24:32s and their Army Sports Institute teammate Yadav, who has recovered from a hamstring injury, was still good enough to finish third in 2:25:33s.
The trio's timings though were well off the London Olympic Games qualifying mark of 2:18s, set by the Athletics Federation of India, which has not notified the Mumbai Marathon this year as part of its designated qualifying races.
The half marathon for Indian men was won by B C Tilak of ASI, Pune, in 1:04:45s. Soji Mathew (Railways, 1:05:04s) and Kheta Ram (ASI, 1:05:32s) placed second and third respectively.
In the corresponding event for women, Railways runners Priyanka Singh Patel (1:22:34s) and Sangeeta Yadav (1:23:45s) swept the top two positions, while Maharashtra's Jayashree Borge finished third in 1:24:43s.
Assefa completed the gruelling 42.195-km run in 2 hours, 09 minutes and 54 seconds, erasing the previous record of 2:11:54 seconds, set by Kenya's Kenneth Mungara two years ago.
He was followed by compatriot Botor Segaye Wolde, who clocked 2:09:57s.
Kenya's Patrick Muriuki was third with a timing of 2:10:00s. All three were under the two-year course record of 2:11:51s.
Two-time winner and favourite John Kelai, who won at the Delhi Commonwealth Games, placed a poor sixth in 2:11:05s.
"I am happy to have won. I will come back to Mumbai again and participate in the marathon next year," the 24-year-old Assefa from Addis Ababa said after his triumph.
The men's and women's winners took home US $36,000 each.
Aseefa (No 8) is flanked by Muriki (No 13) Wolde at the victory ceremonyOver 38,000 people participated in the annual run, which was flagged off by Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayanan amid tight security from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.
The men's marathon was a close affair all the way with the lead changing regularly. Kenya's Simon Kasimili broke away from a bunch of 15 runners to take the lead early and stay ahead till around the 10-km mark at Haji Ali. But once his job of doing the early pacing was over, he let countryman Kipkemei Mutai surge ahead at the half-way mark.
From hereon it was a battle royale as Muriuki stepped up the pace and forged ahead at the end of the Bandra-Worli sea-link.
After the end of the 32-km mark, it was Wolde who broke away and snatched the lead. However, Assefa, who judged his pace to perfection, came up with a blistering burst on the home stretch to emerge a worthy winner.
The women's run saw an all-Ethiopian top-three finish as Yal clocked 2:26:56s to break the course record set by countrywoman Mulu Seboka in 2008.
Merima Mohammed was second in 2:29:04s, while Elfemesh Alemu placed third with a timing of 2:30:04s.
Jyoti Gawate of Maharashtra emerged the best Indian woman, with a timing of 3:05.30s. She was followed by last year's winner Shastri Devi of Maharashtra, who timed 3:08.15s. M Sudha of Hyderabad, who was third, clocked 3:10.52s.
The women's results had to be altered following the disqualification of Vahida Khan and Vidya Mehta, who both originally finished first and second.
Among Indian men, the army's Lyngkhoi Binning, Angad Kumar and Ram Singh Yadav finished first, second and third respectively.
Lyngkhoi, who was the top Indian finisher in the last edition, repeated the feat in a slow timing of 2:21:16s, well off Ram Singh Yadav's course best of 2:18:03s, set in 2009.
Angad was second in 2:24:32s and their Army Sports Institute teammate Yadav, who has recovered from a hamstring injury, was still good enough to finish third in 2:25:33s.
The trio's timings though were well off the London Olympic Games qualifying mark of 2:18s, set by the Athletics Federation of India, which has not notified the Mumbai Marathon this year as part of its designated qualifying races.
The half marathon for Indian men was won by B C Tilak of ASI, Pune, in 1:04:45s. Soji Mathew (Railways, 1:05:04s) and Kheta Ram (ASI, 1:05:32s) placed second and third respectively.
In the corresponding event for women, Railways runners Priyanka Singh Patel (1:22:34s) and Sangeeta Yadav (1:23:45s) swept the top two positions, while Maharashtra's Jayashree Borge finished third in 1:24:43s.
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