Sports India

MUMBAI: No glory at the Commonwealth Games and the Qatar Super Tour — her first two competitions of the year — and then beaten by world No. 50 Olga Rypakova in the second edition of the Asian Grand Prix - her first loss at home in over two years.

India’s best athlete, Anju Bobby George, has looked sluggish of late. Her longest and hardest season, that includes the World Cup in September and the Asian Games in December, has not taken off well.

On Wednesday, it affected her world ranking, which slipped two places to No.6. But Anju and her coach-cum-husband Robert Bobby George are unperturbed.

Even if Anju fails to win at the Asian Grand Prix in Pune on Friday, it will not be a cause for worry for them.

Bobby George reveals the reason behind the calm. “Anju is carrying a soft tissue injury to her right ankle. It occurred during practice prior to the Qatar event on May 8. We hoped it would get better but now Anju will have to take up to three weeks off after the Pune event to allow the tissue to heal,” he told DNA, adding that she has been taking anti-inflammatory medication.

Anju, too, is not reading much into the three sub-6.60 metre jumps this season. “It is just the beginning of the season. The Asian Games is in December and hence it is important that I peak at the right time,” Anju said. “I am not at all worried about my performance so far.”

Point to the fact that, eight of the top-10 jumpers in the world have jumped a distance better than her best of 6.83 metres at least once since the Athens Games, but Anju is not worried.

“I am confident of bettering my best. I know where I stand,” she said. “Anju has jumped over 6.90 metres in practice and being her coach I know she has the calibre to cross seven metres,” Bobby George said. He also points to the fact that Anju is a natural jumper and has the uncanny ability to peak at the big event. “Anju’s performance graph over the past two years shows that she peaks well into the season; during the big events in August-September,” Bobby George says. “In 2003, her best performance was the bronze-winning jump at the World Championships in Paris, in 2004 she attained her career best at the Athens Olympics and last year she produced her best during the Monaco World Athletics final where she won the silver. There is no cause for worry.”

Anju’s next two events should be the Stockholm and London Grand Prix. “Let us see how her ankle progresses and then we will finalise her schedule,” Bobby George said.
She will participate at the Asian Grand Prix in Pune on Friday, but the sore ankle could be a hindrance. “She loves jumping at home, there is so much support,” her husband said, justifying why she will jump, though not 100 per cent fit. At the moment, however, Anju is ready to wait for her moment in the sun.