Asian Games 2010 - India's Strategies and Tactics

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If you are keen and have queries, please contact Coach Rameshon at 9100 4369 or you can email him at m.rameshon@gmail.com or swift.rameshon@gmail.com. Please refer to website http://flexifitness.com.sg (for more information on him and his programmes)

By Rameshon

Bsc (Hons) Degree in Physical Education, Loughborough University (1992-1994)

Masters in Education (University of Western Australia, 2005-2008)

Next Issue: An interview with 2009 winner Mok Ying Ren.

Rise of Indian Women Warriors in Long Distance Races.

Kenyan world champion Vivian Cheruiyot, a diminutive athlete, strode to the women's 5 000m gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in a time of 15min 55.12 sec. In that race, no Indian female athletes came anywhere near top 8 for the race. The 8th position's runner was Wright Megan from Canada who did 16min 55sec. In the Indian Inter-State 5000m, the best runner by the name of Jijimol Jacob from India only did 17min 27sec to win the race over the rest of the field of women runners.

Picture 1 - Vivian Cheruiyot - Winner of 5000m race in Commonwealth Games 2010 (Delhi)

In Asian Games 2010, apart from the champion Mimi Belete from Bahrain coming in first (PB - 15min 15. 59sec), the two Indian women runners by the name of Preeja Sreedharan (PB - 15min 15.89sec) and Kavita Raut (PB - 15min 16.54sec) were able to deliver by obtaining silver and bronze for India for the event, respectively. Preeja was just 0.30sec from Mimi Belete, who is an Ethiopian-born Bahrain runner. An interesting point to note was that Preeja's time was about 39sec faster than the Commonwealth Champion Vivian Cheruiyot.

Picture 2 - Preeja Sreedharan from India, won gold and silver for 10000m and 5000m, respectively.

Earlier on in the Asian Games 2010 10000m track race, Preeja (31min 50.47sec) led an Indian 1-2, clinching the title with a stunning burst of pace into the home straight in front of fellow teammate Kavita Raut (31min 51sec) and Bahrain's Ethiopian - born Shitaya Habtegebrel (31min 53.27sec). Preeja's time in the Indian Inter-State, held on 8th August 2010, was 32min 36.53sec, while Kavita Raut did 33min 18.48sec. This shows that there is a marked improvement by these Indian women in the long-distance race and it is an encouraging sign.

Picture 3 - Kavita Raut, improving tremendously from 33min 18.48sec (second) on 8th August 2010 in Indian Inter-State race to 33min 05sec (third) in the Commonwealth Games 2010, in mid-October and finally attaining 31min 51sec for the 10000m race in Asian Games 2010.

Both timing of the races, consisting of 5000m and 10000m metres, in the Asian Games, was said to be much faster to the winning time of the champions' time in these two races in the Commonwealth Games 2010. Moreover, the ladies of the Indian team had to compete with top runners who ran under Bahrain flag were formerly from Ethiopia, one of the dominating countries in the world in middle and long-distance races, for both men and women.

On 8th August 2010, in the Indian Inter-State Track and Field Championships 3000m steeplechase women event, OP Jaisha and Sudha Singh did 10min 03. 05 and 10min 14.68sec, respectively, to come in first and second. On the second week of October, in the Commonwealth Games, Sudha Singh did 9min 57.63sec (5th) and OP Jaisha did 10min 20.83 (8th) to come in first and second in the 3000m steeplechase event, respectively. However, rising to the occasion, India's Sudha Singh did 9min 44.67sec to come in as the champion for this event. This time was only less than 5 seconds away from winning the Commonwealth Games 3000m steeplechase event, which was won by Cheywa Milcah Chemos of Kenya.

We should remember that India, as compared to its own past, was able to deliver in track and field middle and long-distance races this year and at the same time reach the world-class standard, recently. Indian newspaper splashed the photos of Preeja, Kavita Raut and Sudha Singh in the news on winning by these girls which made many Indians proud of the achievements. The strategy of India's focusing on women long-distance runners, especially in the 3000m steeplechase, 5000m and 10000m events ended in great success.

Picture 4 - Sudha Singh, wins 3000m steeplechase race for women

In conclusion, the winning of Indian women is a very good sign for the state as more is yet to come in the future. With the Gulf states, China and India giving very good competition to each other recently, Asia will, in the long-run, progress to become as one of the top regions in middle and long-distance in the world over time.

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By Narayanan

Rameshon has taught in Hwa Chong Institution, plus several schools, and Republic Polytechnic as well. He has won many accolades and he was awarded Merit Award for 1991 marathon performance in breaking the national record of Singapore, at that time. He has made 22 male athletes do a marathon in sub-3hrs. He has made 7 female runners do sub-4 hours for the marathon, as well. He was inducted to the ‘Roll of Honour’  by the then College of Physical Education, organised by Singapore Olympic Academy, in 1998, for breaking the National record repeatedly 4 times, till he did 2hr 24min 22sec).

He also has a Coaching group and he trains them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7pm at Botanic Gardens. Those interested can call him at 91004369 for coaching assistance, to improve performance. There is also personal training that he does for many in a week. You can e-mail him at swift.rameshon@gmail.com.