Kumara fails to reach final round

Sarath PREMATILAKE from Beijing

Sri Lanka's Shantha Kumara produced his best timing but still failed to qualify into the final round of the 400 metres event on the sixth day of the 13th Paralympic Games continued in Beijing, China yesterday.

Kumara clocked 51.08 seconds while erasing his previous best effort of 52.05 seconds but was pushed into the fifth place of this event.

He had earlier participated in the 200 metres event without any success and is scheduled to compete in the 800 metres race tomorrow (13). The gold medal in the 400 metres race went to Australian Goyentha Mathsingar with a time of 49.43 seconds. Bashiru Yunusa from Nigeria was placed second with a time of 50.20 followed by Seeman Vaambugu from Kenya clocking 50.48 seconds.

Shantha Kumara said that he made a good start to the race but failed to consolidate his position during the final 20 metres.

Meanwhile China added two golds, two silvers and one bronze to their medal tally in the Table Tennis events in the Peking University Gymnasium. China's Feng Panfeng and Lei Lina captured golds, while the silver medals went to compatriot Lui Meili and Ye Chaoqun. Zhang Xiaoling captured bronze.

Seeded No.6, Feng won Men's Individual Class 3 beating Jean-Philippe Robin of France, seeded No.5, in the final, with bronze going to Tomas Pinas of Spain. He overcame Luiz Algacir Silva of Brazil in the crucial contest.

Meanwhile, for Lei, the top prize came at the expense of her compatriot, Liu Meili of China. In a repeat of the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games final, she reversed the verdict of four years ago to secure gold in Women's Individual Class 9. The bronze medal went to Neslihan Kavas of Turkey who defeated Malgorzata Grzelak of Poland to secure the precious award.

Those were two gold medals for China, but in Men's Individual Class 7 it was silver for Ye Chaoqun of China. In the final he was beaten by the exuberant Jochen Wollmert of Germany, who at the end of the contest roared his approval in Tarzan like style, then threw his racket high in the air and failed to catch the descending object which duly finished prone on the table.

However, that did not deter the extrovert German; he ran alongside the side of the arena finishing his 15 meters of celebration by throwing his racket into the crowd! The memento was well received by his new found Chinese fans. Gold for Germany, while for Spain it was bronze. In the third place contest Alvaro Valera of Spain defeated Mitchell Seidenfeld of the United States.

With two gold and two silver medals for China, the bronze came in Women's Individual Class 8 with Zhang, a lady who holds no less than five Paralympic gold medals, defeating Claire Mairie of France.

Gold went to Thu Kamkasomphu of France who encouraged herself vocally after every point, defeated Josefin Abrahamsson of Sweden in the final.

Natalia Martyasheva of Russia secured gold in Women's Individual Classes 6/7 beating Yulia Ovsyannikova of Russia in the final, with Kelly Van Zon of the Netherlands, the top seed, securing bronze; she defeated Faiza Mahmoud Afify of Egypt in the decisive duel.

Meanwhile, in Men's Individual Class 1 it was success for Andreas Vevera of Austria. Seeded No.1 he clinched gold at the expense of Cho Jae-kwan of the Republic of Korea. In fact, the bronze medal went to the latter's compatriot Lee Hae-kon. He defeated Jean-Francois Ducay of France to secure his prize.