Kavita Raut made a comeback to the Half Marathon circuit after a three years hiatus was much anticipated in the athletic circle but failed to rise to the expectations as she finished second in the Delhi Half Marathon, said a report in The Times of India.
Sudha Singh was the best Indian lady in the Delhi Half Marathon.
Kavita clocked a not so satisfactory timing of 1.19.54.
"I am not at all happy with my performance, but I am sure I will pick up in the coming events. There is no problem with my rhythm. The only problem is the long lay-off I took after the Olympic qualifying matches," she said. Coach Veejendra Singh said, "I did not expect Kavita to win as the field was very open but the good news is she was able to finish at the podium," Kavita was quoted in the report.
Meanwhile The Hindu writes that amid stiff competition, Rahul Kumar Pal (1:06.12) emerged the best among Indian men in the Airtel Delhi half marathon on Sunday. The 19-year-old Maharashtra runner was overall 16th.
The women’s honours among the Indians went to Asian Games steeplechase champion Sudha Singh who was overall 17th.
Sudha Singh and another Asian Games medal winner Kavita Raut stopped the clock at 1:19:34 and 1:19:53 respectively to take the top two positions among Indians. The winners in Indian men and women sections took home Rs. 2.5 lakh each.
