World long-jump bronze-medallist Anju George did the country proud by winning the first athletics gold medal for India in the Afro-Asian Games track and field meet on Wednesday. Namibian star sprinter Frankie Fredericks ran a superb race to win the 200 metres race in the men's section on the penultimate day of the athletic competition. Anju, the 26-year-old Chennai-based customs official, cleared 6.53m in her last attempt which was enough for her to finish on top of the eight-woman field. Nonetheless, she fell short of her best of 6.90 which earned her a bronze in the recent Paris World championships.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, October 30, 2003

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New Delhi, October 11: Anjali Vedpathak Bhagwat on Friday won the women's air rifle gold at the World Cup finals in Milan, Italy. Anjali, who had won the silver at the same event last year, shot 502.4 to win the yellow metal ahead of China's Du Li (501.1) and Japan's Hiromi Misaki (500). The World Cup finals features the ten best performers in the four World Cups of the year. Anjali, who was conferred the country's highest sport award of Khel Ratna last month along with athlete K.M. Beenamol, shot 399 in the preliminary and 103.4 in the final round. The level of competition which Anjali had to face can be gauged from the fact that World Champion Katerina Kurkova of the Czech Republic finished fifth while defending champion Lioubob Galkina of Russia ended up sixth. On the disappointing note for the Indian fans, Abhinav Bindra failed to make it to the final round of the men's air rifle event, finishing last among the ten contestants with a score of 590.

Courtesy: The Asian Age, October 12, 2003

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India retained the team championship in the men and women's sections of the seventh SAARC carrom championships at Dhaka.The Indian men beat Sri Lanka 3-0 and the Indian women defeated Maldives 3-0 in the respective finals.Reigning world champion RM Shankara of India won the men's singles title with a 17-25 25-6 25-18 win over compatriot Jagan Bengle. DN Fernando of Sri Lanka took the third place with a 21-25 25-16 25-24 win over India No 1 Ashok Gaur. In the women's singles, K Suvarna of India won the title with a 25-0 9-25 25-18 victory over team-mate S Apoorva. Indian national champion D Swarnalatha took the third place with a 18-25 25-4 25-4 win over Amitha Wickremasinghe of Sri Lanka.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, October 02, 2003