BHUBANESWAR 05-Feb-2012 284
Odisha woman sprinter Shrabani Nanda made host East Coast Railway (ECoR) proud by clinching a golden double in the 77th All-India Railway Athletics Championship, which concluded here at Kalinga Stadium today. Recruited earlier this week, Shrabani completed the double by adding the 200m title to the one she won in 100m sprint earlier on the opening day, clocking 11.95 seconds. She finished the high-voltage 200m event in 24.56 seconds, overcoming strong challenge by Soujanya.
A Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, Shrabani turned out to the be only athlete to win a medal for ECoR in the 77th edition of the All-India meet. This was also the best achievement of ECoR as the host of three All-India Railway Championship in seven years.
But despite bagging a creditable double, Shrabani seemed unhappy. Reason ? She was recruited as junior clerk despite she being a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist with good academic qualification (graduate). ``I was offered the post of senior clerk. But when I was handed over the appointment letter, I was surprised to know that they have given me a lower grade. However, I hope that the authorities will reconsider their decision after my performance here,`` said Shrabani.
Jitin Paul of Western Railway and MM Anchu of Central Railway emerged as the best male and female athletes respectively. Western Railway retained the team title with 221.5 points, while Southern Railway once again finished runners-up with 200.5 points.
Southern Railway, however, topped the medals tally with 15 gold, five silver and 10 bronze for a total of 30. Western Railway claimed a total 24 medals, which included nine gold, 10 silver and five bronze.
