India off to bad start in TT, athletics disappoint again

Beijing: In yet another disappointing day for India in the Olympic Games on Monday, its challenge in the women's table tennis fizzled out with Neha Aggarwal bowing out in first round and disappointment continued in athletics with triple jumper Renjith Maheswary failing in qualifying test.

Delhi teenager Neha, making her first appearance in the Olympics, lasted precisely 34 minutes as she went down to 35-year-old Chinese-born Australian Jiang Fang Lay in a five-setter 12-10, 8-11, 11-13, 8-11 and 4-11.

Neha, India's lone woman paddler in the Olympics, looked determined to avenge her previous two defeats against Jiang, and went neck-and-neck in the first game till they were levelled at 8-8.

The Indian soon broke loose, much to the surprise of the Australian, to pocket the game in five minutes and go one up in the match.

In the second game too, Neha looked sharp as she raced to a 4-2 lead before her opponent turned the table and eventually overtook her. Neha could not withstand the onslaught of Lay and surrendered the game.

The third game followed the same script with Neha leading 10-8 before the Australian came from behind to grab the game and go 2-1 up in the match.

Neha found it hard to tackle the deceptive returns of her Australian rival and once again lost momentum in the fourth game as Lay ran away with the next three points and the game and the match.

There was no end to India's misery in track and field events as an off-colour national champion Renjith Maheswary added to the gloom by finishing last in an 18-man triple jump Group B qualification round and 35th overall.

Renjith, who holds the national record of 17.04m, leapt 15.77m in his first attempt and could not better that mark in his subsequent two efforts to finish a lowly 35th in the 37-jumper competition.

This was a poor show by the 22-year-old jumper who had become the first Indian to reach the 17m mark when he cleared 17.04m in the Guwahati-leg of Asian Grand Prix in June 2007 to qualify for Beijing.

He had repeated the feat next month in the Asian Track and Field meet in Amman even though it was wind-aided.

With top 12 jumpers each from Group A and B qualifying for the final round, Renjith began with 15.77 and leapt 15.51 in his third, with a botched attempt in between.

Renjith had cleared 16.42m in the Inter-Railway meet in 2005, 16.54m at the Doha Asian Games and 16.72 in the 2007 Federation Cup in Kolkata before peaking in Guwahati in June 2007 to win an Olympic B qualifying norm.