Sports India

If one wonders what is left for ace long jumper Anju Bobby George to prove as she puts herself through the punishing schedule day in and day out, the gangling star will tell you it is her goal.

It is the hot pursuit of this goal that keeps her going even when Anju has to run on reserve fuel. As she resumed her training last week after recovering from a “soft tissue injury", Anju altered her priorities and it is not the year-ending world finals or the coveted world rankings any more.

“I have set my main goal. And I will continue to work till I achieve that,” she told TOI here.

Ask her to elaborate and Anju will put a full stop. “I don’t want to say any thing more on that.”

But one look at the Indian athlete’s cupboard (which has medals from the world championship, world athletics finals, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and GP meets) will easily lay bare her objective - an Olympic medal.

When asked when will she return to competition, Anju said it all depends on how quickly she touches top form. “I am not going to talk about my schedule till I reach competition standards. There is no point in taking part in GPs in Europe as I’ll struggle with my take-off,” Anju said referring to the right heel injury which forced her to skip the Stockholm (July 25) and London (July 28) Grand Prix meets.

The return does not seem a long way off as the star athlete is planning to go full steam in training at the SAI complex in Kengeri from this week. “My targets for the year are the IAAF World Cup in September and the Asian Games in December,” she said. “Before that we are also planning to participate in a few other meets.”

But the extended break has forced her skip a number of top meets on the calendar and cost her important ranking points. With qualification for the World finals in Stuttgart in September being based on the World Athletics Tour standings, Anju is sure to miss the gala meet. In last year’s finals in Monte Carlo, Anju had finished second behind Tatyana Kotova of Russia that saw her end the season on a high.

Long jumper Anju Bobby George’s performances have not been encouraging of late. That has put India’s ace athlete in a spot.

It has not only affected her world ranking, but now her chance to be among the top seven athletes for the fourth edition of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Athletics Finals (to be held in Stuttgart (Germany) on September 9 and 10) is also dim.

According to latest IAAF world ranking, with 1237 points, Anju is down the ladder from fourth to seventh spot. Winner of bronze in the last edition of the IAAF World Athletics Finals, Anju, this year, hasn’t accumulated enough points to gain automatic qualification.

As per the new IAAF scoring system, the top seven athletes with maximum points — earned from participating in the IAAF World Athletics Tour (WAT) which includes IAAF Golden League and Super Grand Prix meets — will be eligible for the Finals.

In the last two editions, overall IAAF ranking had been taken into consideration for participation in the competition.

Her Athletics Tour ranking now is a tied 18th (with four others), with six points. Incidentally, Russian Tatyana Kotova who tops the IAAF world rankings list, is among them.

Lyudmila Kolchanova (Russia), Sachiko Masumi (Japan) and Olga Kucherenko (Russia) are the three others tied with Anju.

Last May, Anju earned six points from her seventh-place finish in the Doha Super Grand Prix. Since then she hasn’t participated in any of the Grand Prix Meets.

Anju, it is learnt, is not focusing on the European circuit, but the Doha Asian Games.

Teenager Pinki Pramanik completed her second consecutive golden double in 400m and 800 m while Anju Bobby George again won silver in long jump in the third and final leg of the Asian Grand Prix on Friday.

Pinki won her third successive women’s 800m in the circuit with a personal best of 2 min 03.23 sec and then flashed to the finish line by outclassing the field in the one-lap race in 52.92 sec.

Mahan Singh was the other Indian athlete to make a big mark by winning the men’s high jump for a hat trick of GP titles in the season.

Mahan recorded his season’s best of 7.73 metres.

He had already won the event in the first two legs at Bangkok and Bangalore.

Anju, having come here to take part with a soft tissue injury of the heel, looked pretty flat while clearing 6.46 metres in her first jump.

She was easily overtaken by Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan with a clearance 6.49m.

The latter virtually sewed up her third successive crown in the Asian GP by clearing 6.61 m after Anju had done 6.39 in her second attempt.

Later, Anju cleared 6.38 m in her third jump, fouled her fourth and then had a poor 6.14 m off the fifth before limping off and forfeiting her last two jumps.

Olga, meanwhile, jumped to modest distances of 6.25 and 6.31 metres before deciding not to take her last two attempts as she had already won the title.

PUNE: Six Indians finished atop the podium at the Asian Grand Prix in Pune on Friday, but none shone brighter than teenager Pinki Parmanik. The 19-year-old West Bengal girl completed a hat-trick in the 800 metres and then took her second title of the day in the 400 metres after winning the silver at Bangkok and the gold at Bangalore. She finished with five gold and a silver in the three legs of the Asian Grand Prix.

Long-jumper Maha Singh also achieved a hat-trick, producing a season best of 7.73 metres - good enough to quell a strong challenge from compatriot Shiv Shankar Yadav. The men’s javelin also saw a one-two finish as Anil Singh beat Om Narayan. Roy Shankar Hari (high jump) and Sunil Kumar (3,000 m) completed India’s gold rush on Friday.

But it was the women’s long jump that got the crowd on their feet. World No. 6 Anju Bobby George’s strapped-up right heel did not allow her to take off well and she produced a best of 6.46 in her first attempt - a distance good enough only for the silver. Kazakhstan’s Olga Rypakova completed her hat-trick at the Asian GP leaping to 6.61 metres.

“My heel was hurting even during my trial jump,” Anju said later. Anju only had a provisional lead, when she produced best jump in the first round and Olga who followed the Indian stole the initiative with 6.49 metres.

In the second round Anju demanded more support from her fans, clapping over her head and pumping herself up. But she could manage only 6.39. Olga replied with 6.61 metres and from then on it was an uphill task for the Indian start. Anju also had her a strapping around her left knee to keep in check an old injury.

Her drooping spirit was evident as she signaled to husband-cum-coach Robert Bobby George that she was unable to take off well and leaped 6.38 in third attempt, before being red-flagged in the next. By now it was evident that Anju was jumping with pain and after her fifth attempt, she sat down and held her ankle. She gestured to her Bobby George that she was done and gave the last round a skip.

New Delhi, June 14. (PTI): Anju Bobby George continued her slide in the world rankings, as her lacklustre performances resulted in her dropping one place to number seven in the latest women’s long jump charts.

The lanky Keralite is struggling with poor form and injury since the start of the year and has not reached the levels, which saw her claiming a silver medal at the World Athletics Finals in Monaco in 2005.

Anju could manage only second place in the two Asian Grand Prix events in Bangalore and Pune after returning to the circuit after a heel injury which forced her out of the meet in Bangkok.

The ace Indian athlete, who was ranked as high as number four not too long back, would look to improve on her performance in time for the Athletics World Cup in Greece in September and the Doha Asian Games in December.

The latest rankings are dominated by Russian athletes with Tatyana Kotova, Oksana Udmurtova and Tatyana Lebedeva occupying the first three positions. American Tianna Madison drops one place to fourth ahead of Australia’s Bronwyn Thompson, who also loses one spot.

Grace Upshaw of the USA is a notch lower at six just ahead of Anju. Cuban Yargelis Savigne, Spain’s Concepcion Montaner and Russian Lyudmila Kolchanova round off the top 10.

In the men’s discus throw, Vikas Gowda, who won the gold medal at the NCAA (US Collegiate) championships in Sacramento, moved up two places to 23rd in the world rankings.

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.

New Delhi: Anju Bobby George’s recent lacklustre performances have resulted in her dropping two spots to number six in the latest IAAF women’s long jump rankings.

The ace Indian athlete fell from the fourth place she had been holding for the past two months.

After the Melbourne Commonwealth Games where the lanky Keralite finished sixth, she took time off but her fortunes did not show an upswing on her return to the circuit.

She finished a lowly seventh at the Doha Super Grand Prix earlier this month and, to make matters worse, suffered a heel injury during training which forced her out of the first leg of the Asian Grand Prix circuit in Bangkok.

She returned to competition in front of her home crowd in Bangalore, but had to settle for a silver medal with a jump of 6.35m. The gold went to little known Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan.

Russia’s Tatyana Kotova continues to head the rankings while the big gainer was her compatriot Oksana Udmurtova, the gold medallist at Doha, who rose three spots to number two.

Bangalore: Staging a comeback from an injury lay-off is never easy and ace long jumper Anju Bobby George is learning to deal with it.

She endured a double blow at the Doha Grand Prix recently, finishing a poor seventh and suffering a heel injury which forced her to skip the Bangkok leg of the Asian Grand Prix.

Anju participated in yesterday’s Bangalore leg despite not recovering fully. “The pain is still there. But you can’t afford to give meets like the Asian Grand Prix a miss.

No elevation

“My legs started to hurt after the second round.”

“Moreover, I was going for flat jumps as I was not getting the elevation,” Anju told MiD Day at the Shree Kanteerava Stadium here yesterday.

Clearly, she looked well below her best as she leapt 6.36m to land the silver behind Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan, who cleared 6.39m to nose ahead of the Indian.

Break after Pune

The 29-year-old jumper, who first shot into prominence bagging a bronze in the 2003 World Championship in Paris, was initially undecided about taking part in the Pune leg (May 26) of the Asian Grand Prix but has decided to take the plunge despite the injury not healing completely.

Bobby not worried

“Anyway she’s taking a month’s break in June. She would be taking part in competitions in London and Stockholm in July. So, it makes sense to participate in these meets,” said Bobby George, her husband and coach.

“It’s not a major worry. Such injuries take about two weeks to heal.

“Adequate rest is the answer but with events happening in a jiffy, we thought taking part in them would stand her in good stead,” Bobby explained.

Bangalore: Staging a comeback from an injury lay-off is never easy and ace long jumper Anju Bobby George is learning to deal with it.

She endured a double blow at the Doha Grand Prix recently, finishing a poor seventh and suffering a heel injury which forced her to skip the Bangkok leg of the Asian Grand Prix.

Anju participated in yesterday’s Bangalore leg despite not recovering fully. “The pain is still there. But you can’t afford to give meets like the Asian Grand Prix a miss.

No elevation

“My legs started to hurt after the second round.”

“Moreover, I was going for flat jumps as I was not getting the elevation,” Anju told MiD Day at the Shree Kanteerava Stadium here yesterday.

Clearly, she looked well below her best as she leapt 6.36m to land the silver behind Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan, who cleared 6.39m to nose ahead of the Indian.

Break after Pune

The 29-year-old jumper, who first shot into prominence bagging a bronze in the 2003 World Championship in Paris, was initially undecided about taking part in the Pune leg (May 26) of the Asian Grand Prix but has decided to take the plunge despite the injury not healing completely.

Bobby not worried

“Anyway she’s taking a month’s break in June. She would be taking part in competitions in London and Stockholm in July. So, it makes sense to participate in these meets,” said Bobby George, her husband and coach.

“It’s not a major worry. Such injuries take about two weeks to heal.

“Adequate rest is the answer but with events happening in a jiffy, we thought taking part in them would stand her in good stead,” Bobby explained.

Pune, May 25: Ace long jumper Anju Bobby George said today she was not at all disappointed with her performance in the season so far and felt she was progressing steadily towards the target she and her coach-cum-husband Bobby George had set.

“I am not at all disappointed with my performance. We have a target in our mind. We are going through. It’s just the beginning of our season. We are always aiming for the big competitions,” the Kerala-born long-legged field athlete told reporters at the Baburao Sanas stadium here today.

Anju is here to take part in the long jump competition of the third and final leg of the Asian Grand Prix circuit to be held tomorrow.

“I am on target. If you go through my (past) performance it’s has been a slow and steady progress,” said the 2003 World Championship bronze medallist.

Anju, who could finish no higher than sixth at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in March, is carrying a heel injury but still has come here to take part in the event as she feels such events are coming to India after a long gap and she cannot avoid these even though she’s still on the injured list.

“Sports people are always fit,” she said with a smile initially when the query was put on the subject.

When prodded further she said, “It’s not a bone injury, just a soft tissue injury. It’s on the take-off leg. There’s swelling over there. It will be OK within two weeks.”