Saraswati regrets she couldn’t better her best in 200m

Bangalore: In a surprise effort, Saraswati Saha of Bengal Friday qualified for the Athens Olympic Games when she emerged winner in the 200m in the fourth National Circuit athletic meet held here.

The 24-year-old Eastern Railway employee, braving inclement weather, managed to find her pace on a wet track at the Kanteerava Stadium to win the race with a timing of 23.07 seconds.

This was the last of the meets for qualification. The beaming Calcutta girl said: “My confidence level was high at the start, though it was a difficult task.”

Saha, coached by husband Amit Saha and Parminder Singh, regretted that she could not better her best timing of 22.82 seconds, achieved at the 2002 Circuit Meet in Ludhiana.

“On the wet track, I could not get the speed,” Saha, the lone participant to achieve the qualifying mark to Athens in this event, said.

It was sheer disappointment for Shakti Singh of Haryana, who could not make the qualifying mark in shot put though he was the winner, heaving the iron ball to 19.40 m.

Ranvijay Singh of Uttar Pradesh, another international who had raised hopes, finished second with 18.97m.

In women’s hammer throw, Hardeep Kaur’s (punjab) hope of qualifying for the Games was dashed, though she claimed top honours with a heave of 59.68 m. Rakhee Goud of Maharastra and Sashikala (Tamil Nadu) finished second and third, with throws of 47.92 m and 47.48 m, respectively.

In triple jump, Amarjeet Singh of Punjab could not better his earlier 16.44 m feat, as he leapt to just 16.24 m. (PTI)