Avdesh Pal sets tone for hosts Pune dominance

Pune, Nov 13: Long distance ace Avdesh Kumar Pal of Pune district, set the tone for the hosts by winning the boys under-18 5,000 metres race and clocked 15:59:01, while teammate Taiyappa Shedge and Datta Zodge won gold in the boys under-16 2,000 and 800 metre events respectively on the opening day of the MLA Junior State Athletic Championship Trophy being hosted by Poona District Amateur Athletic Association (MAAA).

The Maharashtra Amateur Athletic Association (MAAA), the apex body, had allocated the annual meet to the Buldhana District Association originally. But the said association cried off at the last minute due to technical difficulties.

The PDAAA, however came to the rescue of MAAA and made last-minute arrangements to host the meet so that the Maharashtra contingent could take part in the Junior Inter-State and National Athletic championship to be held at Bangalore from November 25 to 28.

The 5,000 metres boys under-18 race provided the best fare of the day with near photo-finish race. Sandeep Kalgude of Kolhapur and Sachin Dhole of Pune shot into the lead from the pack, which had a grid of 28 runners.

The excitement mounted as Avdesh crossed the finish line by scrapping the Kolhapur lad Kalgude by just .04 seonds, while Dhole was content with the third slot. All the three runners, however, have qualified to represent the State in the national championship at Bangalore.

The meet attracted a total of 1,500 athelets from 32 district units of the MAAA, which was formally inaugurated by MLA Vinayak Niman.

Speaking on the occasion Mr Niman said that efforts will be made to extend and provide the best of the facilities to the top rung athletes - both boys and girls - to make their mark in the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games to be held in Pune.

Taking into account the large number of entries, the meet is being held at the Shiv Chhtarapati Sports City Mahalunge-Balewadi and the newly created synthetic Baburao Sanas Stadium of Pune Municipal Corporation in the heart of the city.

Following are the results: All Fianls Girls Under 20: 10.000 Metres: Anuja Bijagare (Nag) 1, Nikita Nagpure (A'Nagar) 2, Manjusha Patil (Sang) 3 Time: 39:43:07 100 Meter Hurdles: Sirsha Hegde (Thane) 1, Poja Patil 9 (Pune) 2 Time 15.2 secs.

Boys Under 20: 10,000 Meters: Muninder Singh (Pune)1, Jyotiba Satpute (Kol) 2, Santosh Nimje (Nag) 3 Time 32:33:03 High Jump: Nilesh Patil (Sangli) 1, Makrand Ganjade (Pune)2, Agandare Jha (Thane) 3 Height 1.85 mtrs 800 Meters: Jitendra Rathod (Aug) 1, Charudutt Zambekar (Mum Sub) 2, Pankaj Karmere (Nag) 3 1:56:02 Shot Put: Santosh Kohikar (Sat) 1, Hiren Joshi (Mum Sub) 2, Pratamesh Rane (Thane) 3 Dist 14.45 Metres Girls Under-18 800 Metres: Prabhavati Rawant (Mum Sub) 1, Teja Naik (Kol) 2, Meenaleh Shitole (Sol)3 2 :26:01 Shot Put: Ekta Jadhav (Pune) 1, Sonali Pawar (Sat) 2, Supriya Swami (Sang) 3 Dist 10.80 Metres.

Girls Under-16 2,000 Metres: Sangita Naik (Kol) 1, Dhanashree Dhagerkar (Sang) 2, Pooja Varade (Aug) 3 Time 7:14:01 800 Metres: Amruta Wadkar (Kol) 1, Monica Atre (Nask) 2, Natasha Machedo (Mum Sub) 3 Time 2:26:83 Boys Under-16 2,000 Metres: Taiyappa Shendge (Pune) 1, Srikant Bhosale (Pune) 2, Vinod Bind (Akola) 3 Time 5''59:00 800 Metres: Dutta Zodge (Pune) 1, Gulab Singh Vasawe (Pune) 2, Bharat Wagh (Sang) 3 2:03:84 Boys Under-18 5,000 Metres: Avdesh Kumar Pal (Pune) 1, Sandeep Kalgude (Kol) 2, Sachin Dhole (Pune) 3 Time 15:59:01 Javelin Throw: Amol Patil (Sang) 1, Saurav Palkar (Sol) 2, Dattatraya Gaikwad (Kol) 3 Dist: 50.30:00 Mtrs.

High Jump: Navin Singh (Thane) 1, Milan Goyal (Mum Sub) 2, Narendra Verma (Thane) 3 Height 1.90 Mtrs.

Girls Under-18 3,000 Metres: Jaishree Borge (Kol) 1, Manisha Salunke (Sang) 2, Jayshree Babar (Sat) 3 Time; 11:00:08 Long Jump: Aditi Shah (Mum Sub) 1, Versha Thorat (Sang) 2, Vidya Bariwale (MumSub) 3 Dist 5.62 mtrs.

100 Hurdles: Hiral J Hariya (Mum Sub) 1, Chaitali Shitooth (Mum Sub) 2, Snehal Choudhari (Yeotmal) 3 Time 17.7 secs

UNI