 Chennai: The Asian Grand Prix was supposed to be the stage for Renjith Maheshwary to shine in the triple jump, but it was PT Usha's ward Tintu Luka who stole the show on Jun 9.
In the women's 800m final, she overcame Kazakhstan's Margarita Matsko to win the gold with a timing of 2.03.67. The result was even more impressive considering she had a bout of food poisoning in Bangalore and had to skip that leg.
Tintu had an easy start, taking the lead after just 50 meters and at the halfway stage it seemed that the race was hers. But with just 100 meters to go she began to show signs of tiredness and her strides began to slow down.
And, it even seemed that she would relinquish the lead that she had built up steadily. But she hung on to finish ahead of her Kazhakh rival who finished with a time of 2.04.42. India's Sushma Devi took the bronze with 2.04.76.
Renjith had an evening to forget. He failed to get his rhythm going, despite the cheering from the crowd and failed to come close to the 17m mark that he had crossed in Bangalore.
Chinas Wu Bo won the gold with a jump of 16.73m in just his second attempt. Kazhakstans Roman Valiyev took the bronze with 16.43 m. In the women's discus throw Krishna Poonia trumped her rival Seema Antil to complete her golden treble with a distance of 59.94 meters. Harwant Kaur took the silver with 59.36m and Antil the bronze with 55.60m.
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