Assam’s Hima Das celebrates after winning the 400m gold at the Federation Cup, clocking 51.97 seconds
At the recently-concluded Asian Games Test event in Jakarta, the 400m women’s relay team was left in a quandary after one of the main runners pulled out at the final moment. The coaches were left with no option but to send Hima Das, who had arrived to compete primarily in the 200m event.
It was her first major tournament in the 400m category and her performance caught the eye of the national coaches. Just a month later, competing against the country’s finest 400m runners at the Federation Cup on Tuesday, Das clocked a gold medal effort of 51.97s, 0.03s better than the Athletics Federation of India’s CWG qualifying guideline. She also outran the likes of double Asian Games medallist MR Poovamma, who finished third and Vijayakumari, who took the second spot with 53.03s on the clock.
“I am a bit surprised myself. I thought I had completed my race in the 52-second range but finishing under it has me really excited,” said Das, whose pet events just months back were the 100 and 200m.
The athlete, who hails from Nagaon district of Assam where her parents work as farmers, was included in the national camp in October. Basant Singh, who assists head coach Galina Bukharina at the 400m camp, said they were looking to build a young team for the 4×400 relay event at the Asian Games and Das would be at the core of it.
Das, who finished 5th in the 200m at the 2017 U-18 Worlds in Nairobi, initially wanted to become a footballer. She played as a striker and was in great demand among local village clubs who would utilise her services in return for Rs 500 per match.
But Das soon realised football was not her calling as she found it difficult to progress to the next level. “I could not see myself wearing an Indian jersey anytime soon. But here in athletics, with just two years of competition, that dream seems possible,” she said.
Das decided to switch to 400m at the insistence of the national camp coaches. “They felt her running style and stride length was much more suited to the 400m event,” explained Nabajit Malakar, one of Das’s former coaches. The switch seems to have paid dividends so far as she has earned a ticket to the CWG at Gold Coast when least expected.
“I asked her if she was confident to compete in 400m where we have some really experienced runners. She said she didn’t care. That’s when I fully backed her,” coach Basant says. Apart from football, one of Das’s greatest passions is music and she’s a huge fan of Assamese singer Zubeen Garg. Just before her race at the U-18 Worlds, she yelled out Majuli, her favourite song, in front of the cameras.
Months later, she was surprised to receive a call from the singer himself.“I am just going to go to my room and listen to Zubeen da’s songs. Future ko future mein dekh lenge,” she said when asked what her future plans were.
Neeraj finds his zone
The country’s premier javelin thrower, Neeraj Chopra came up with a massive effort of 85.94m to rewrite the meet record (85.63m).
It was the second-best throw of his career. Neeraj, who had already hit the AFI qualification mark (81.80m) for the CWG in the first leg of the Indian Grand Prix, feels this throw will give him a lot of confidence ahead of the Gold Coast event.
Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra set a meet record with a massive effort of 85.94 metres, his second-best throw ever. (AFI Photo)
“I feel I am back in my zone. These kinds of throws boost your confidence,” said Chopra. His throw would have earned him a gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where Julius Yego was the champion with a best throw of 83.87m.
Keshorn Walcott, who had topped the qualifying round with an effort of 85.28m, settled for silver as he could manage just 82.67m in the finals.
Neeraj, who has recently returned from a training stint in Germany reputed coach Werner Daniels, had a jam-packed 2017 season which included the World Championships where he was left disappointed at not making the finals. He also suffered a groin injury that forced him to pull out midway at the Zurich Diamond League.
But things are falling back into place, Neeraj believes. “I am planning to train under Uwe (Hohn) sir for a while and see how it goes. I have been working extra hard to keep myself injury-free and perform more consistently,” he added.
Shot putter Tejinder Pal Toor too made the CWG cut, hurling the iron ball to a distance of 20.24m, .04m further than AFI’s guidelines. In the absence of Inderjeet Singh, serving a doping ban, Toor is India’s best bet at the Commonwealth Games.
Having missed the World Championship qualification mark last year by a margin of 10cm, Toor was eager to confirm his ticket to Australia. However, he was a little disappointed at not crossing his target of 21m.
A fine performance was witnessed in the men’s long jump event where Sreeshankar managed a best jump of 7.99m, just 1cm short of the 8m AFI qualifying guideline.
The 18-year-old also crossed the junior national record of 7.94m set by Prem Kumar in 2012.
“I am really happy with my performance. I won’t be disappointed even if I don’t make the grade for CWG. I think about the long run,” he said.
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