Anju George flies high, but hockey team flops again

While Anju qualified for the long jump final at Athens, in hockey, Indian men lost to Pakistan.

Anju Bobby George accomplished the first half of her mission at Athens by leaping into the women's long jump final with her very first leap of 6.69 metres on Wednesday.

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The 27-year-old Kerala-born Anju attained the automatic qualification mark of 6.65m to reach the final with her maiden jump at the Olympic Stadium, even as the men's hockey team plunged to a humiliating 3-0 defeat against arch-rivals Pakistan in a classification match at the Olympic Hockey Centre.

Anju, thus, became only the second Indian woman athlete to figure in an Olympic final, after another Kerala legend PT Usha who achieved the distinction in the 400m hurdles in the 1984 Games at Los Angeles before going on to miss the bronze medal by a whisker.

The demoralised hockey squad held their opponents from across the border goalless till the first half before Pakistan slammed in three second-half goals to force India to fight for the 7-8 places with Korea on Friday.

Korea lost 4-3 to New Zealand in another 5-8 classification tie. The Kiwis will meet Pakistan for the fifth place and are assured of a Champions Trophy berth in this December's tournament in Pakistan, who have already qualified as the hosts.