Poor performances dominate second invitational meet

JAKARTA (JP): Mediocre performances dominated the second Bob Hasan track and field invitational meet held at Senayan yesterday evening.

Europeans and Americans were the kings and the queens of the meet which saw female javelin thrower Lee Young Sun of South Korea as the only Asian gold-medal winner. Asia's powerhouse China was surprisingly numb. It won only two bronze medals.

No Indonesian won a medal. But the fact that the 15,000- capacity Senayan Madya stadium, the venue of the meet, was almost overflowing with actively cheering crowds may harbinger the promotion of the meet (officially called the International Amateur Athletics Federation permit meet) to Grand Prix Two status.

Secretary-general of the Asian Amateur Athletics Association Mauritz Nicholas told reporters he was optimistic about it.

"Yes, we stand a good chance. The stadium is full. The organization (of this meet) is good. The competitions ran excellently. The meet is surely going to get a GP Two status, if not next year, perhaps in 1998."

If the organizers succeed in maintaining the meet's quality, the GP Two status will soon become GP One status, which is the highest. Currently, Japan is the only Asian country which has obtained GP One status and India the only Asian country with GP Two status.

"We are planning to start an Asian GP next year. With this Bob Hasan meet a resounding success, I'm hopeful that Jakarta will be one of its legs," Nicholas added.

However, if the Bob Hasan meet is always held about this time (early May), the chances are that European and American athletes who come to the meet would rarely show their best performance.

Three-time world discus throw champion Lars Riedel, for instance, only threw 65.94m, far below his best of 69.08. American sprinter Dennis Mitchell clocked 10.22sec, far behind his best of 9.91 and slower than the best time of former Indonesian champion Mardi Lestari. Danish pole vaulter Martin Voss vaulted 5.60m, also far below his personal best of 5.72m.

The timing of this meet is to blame for such mediocrity. Riedel and Voss said it was their first outings in their competitive season after a long rest over the winter. A problem with wind is perhaps there, although this may not be significant. Mitchell said he ran against a very bad headwind but was satisfied with the way he ran the race. Voss said he also had some problems with the headwind. Riedel said he had anticipated the headwind and blamed "not very good technique" for his "poor" result.

Indonesia's long-distance runner Tri Asih Handayani also recorded a poor result, 4:36.08 in the 1500m. She finished fifth behind Therese Kisel of Austria (4:18.33), Khin-khin Htwe of Myanmar (4:20.36) and two Australians. Handayani said, "I was underprepared. I should have prepared for one month, not two weeks. Besides, I had no idea that I would compete here. So far, I have trained for the 5,000m at the Malaysia Open later this month."

The only Asian smile came from Lee Young Sun, whose personal best for the javelin is 63.32m. The 23-year-old physical training graduate said she was not surprised that she was able to beat her European and American opponents. "They are not the best, perhaps only second or third-rate athletes. That's why I can win here." (arf)

Leading results

Women

100m: 1. Savatheda Fynes (Bah) 11.24 seconds 2. Juliet Cuthbert (Jam) 11.27 3. Susanthika Jayasinghe (Sri) 11.40

Javelin: 1. Lee Young Sun (Kor) 59.0 metres 2. Kate Farrow (Aus) 58.6 3. Chartwadee Suthon (Tha) 49.7

100m hurdles: 1. Melissa Morrisson (U.S.) 13.21 seconds 2. Monifa Taylor (U.S.) 13.22

400m: 1. Kim Graham (U.S.) 51.97 seconds 2. Flirtisha Harris (U.S.) 53.19

1500m: 1. Therese Kiesl (Aut) 4:18.33 seconds 2. Khin Khin Htwe (Mya) 4:20.36 3. Nicole Robinson (Aus) 4:22.77

Shot put: 1. Elleen Vanisi (U.S.) 17.92 metres 2. Elena Baltabaeva (Kaz) 17.29 3. Liu Lina (Chn) 16.79

Men's

100m: 1. Dennis Mitchell (U.S.) 10.22 seconds 2. Vincent Henderson (U.S.) 10.27 3. Patrik Strenius (Sweden) 10.52

110m hurdles: 1. Terry Reese (U.S.) 13.51 seconds 2. Robert Foster (Jam) 13.75 3. Svein Pieters (Bel) 13.80

400m: 1. Ibrah Ismail Faraj (Qat) 45.04 seconds 2. Calvin Davis (U.S.) 45.41 3. Jason Rouser (U.S.) 45.88

1500m: 1. Mogens Gulberg (Den) 3:44.23 seconds 2. Bahadur Prassad (Ind) 3:44.49 3. Darren Lynch (Aus) 3:44.93

Triple jump: 1. Desmont Hunt (U.S.) 16.71 metres 2. Ivory Angella (Bah) 16.46 3. Duan Qifeng (Chn) 16.17

Pole vault: 1. Martin Voss (Den) 5.6 metres 2. Bill Deering (U.S.) 5.5 3. Jimmy Miller (Aus) 5.5

Discus: 1. Lars Riedel (Ger) 65.94 metres 2. Stefan Fernholm (Swe) 59.62 3. Poltoratski Roman (Uzb) 58.54