MANGALORE June 29: A string of standout performances in the ongoing Asian Grand Prix has earned the Indian women's 4x400 metre relay squad a berth in the upcoming Beijing Olympics.

The team includes Machettira Raju Poovamma, the petite 18-year-old girl from Mangalore, and Satti Geetha, Chitra and Mandeep Kaur. The quartet clocked 3:28.29 in the second meet of the Asian GP to make sure of its berth in Beijing Olympics.

Dinesh Kunder, coach of Ms. Poovamma, told The Hindu here on Saturday that the Indian relay squad bagged two gold medals in the Asian Grand Prix at Bangkok and Korat in Thailand in a matter of three days. The same quartet had clocked 3:32.44 at Bangkok and shaved off more than four seconds at Korat to book their passage to Beijing. “This is a milestone in the fledgling career of Ms. Poovamma,” he said.

A student of Sri Dharmasthala Manjunateshwara College of Business Management here, Poovamma has been a consistent performer in athletics.

She made her mark in international athletics at the junior level with a bronze medal in the Asian junior meet 4x400 metre relay held at Macau, China, in 2005. She went on to win the relay gold at the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games hosted by Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2006.

She followed this up with an individual bronze in 400 metres at the Asian Grand Prix at Bangkok in 2006, bagged one more bronze in the Asian Indoor Meet held in Macau in 2007. This year has been a golden one for Poovamma, who bagged two gold medals with the senior Indian relay time.

She has a chance for one more relay gold medal in the final leg of the Asian GP to be held in Hanoi on Monday.

The news of his daughter's achievement in the Asian GP came as a pleasant surprise for her father M.G. Raju.

Admitting that he did not have too much hope of her making it to the Olympics when she left to participate in the Asian GP, Mr. Raju said: “I had just 10 per cent hope.”

Explaining this sense of pessimism, Mr. Raju said he was not sure if Poovamma would get a chance to be a part of the quartet in the first place. Noting that she had grabbed the chance that came her way with both hands, Mr. Raju said the family consisting of Jaji, her mother, and Manju, brother, is elated.

Mr. Kunder said his ward had the potential to represent India even in 2012 Summer Olympics to be held in London and hoped that the authorities concerned would allow him to accompany her to Beijing.

Hindu

From the archives:

Mangalore's pride under international light

Poovamma - Trail Blazing On The Track