IVP Track and Field: Madankumar kicks past Feroz yet again to win third straight 1500m title

Story by Erwin Wong/Red Sports. Photos contributed by Farhanah Ghaffar

ITE Simei, Saturday, February 4, 2012 – Third time was no charm for Nanyang Technological University (NTU)’s Muhammad Shah Feroz, who was pipped once again by Madankumar Balakrishnan of National University of Singapore (NUS) in the men’s 1500 metres final at the Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) Track and Field Championships.

Madankumar, a fourth-year Electrical Engineering student, tucked himself behind Feroz and allowed the latter to do the pace-setting. At the final bend, Madankumar unleashed his trademark finishing kick to burst past Feroz, and beat his rival in the 1500m for the third straight time. Madankumar clocked a time of four minutes 12.56 seconds to win the gold medal, while Feroz could only be content with second place in a time of 4:16.63.

The pair last raced against each other in this event in September 2010 at the Singapore Open, and Madankumar broke the 4:10 barrier for the first time when he beat Feroz 4:09.72 to 4:11.91. Madankumar also beat Feroz at the 2009/10 IVP Championships, in October 2009, 4:10.85 to 4:12.71 to win the first of his three 1500m IVP gold medals. Madankumar won the 2010/11 1500m race, which Feroz did not feature in, with a time of 4:21.61.

Madankumar sat out the 2011 season with a plantar fasciitis injury, leaving Feroz to run a superb personal best of 4:06.91 at the Singapore Athletic Association (SAA) Series 3 meet in April. Given his time spent on the sidelines, Madankumar was satisfied with his performance.

“I was injured from January till August, and started training in September. I’m fine with the time clocked today, and wasn’t expecting something too fast, because it’s been only around five months since I started training.

“I was hoping to win and retain my title from the last two years. I was hoping to just follow Feroz. I know he always has a good pace. As long as I followed him, I should be able to do a good time,” added Madankumar.

Feroz was less than pleased about his own performance.

“I was planning for 64 seconds per lap up till 1km, and if it’s possible, up till 1200m. And for the last few hundred metres, I would just see what I had left. That was my target. It was a bad race. I was one second off in the second lap, and then it got slower and slower in the third lap. It didn’t go as planned.”

When asked what made Madankumar so difficult to beat, Feroz replied: “He’s got the speed and speed endurance, so if I were to stay with him at the last part of the race, he would still win, because his kick is much better than mine.

“It’s the third time he has done it. It’s okay, it’s just part and parcel of racing.”

Despite being the first Singaporean in recent years to run the 3000m Steeplechase in under 10 minutes last weekend, Feroz maintains that the 1500m is his pet event, while the steeplechase is just a ‘side-dish.’

He said: “I am aiming to qualify for the 2013 South-east Asian Games for the 1500m, and to run sub-four minutes by the end of this year.”

While Feroz has two disciplines on his plate which he is extremely adept in, Madankumar, who concludes his varsity athletics competition with two 800m gold medals to go along with his three 1500m titles, will turn his attention to other tasks at hand.

“I might take a break (from running) for a while as this is my final semester, and I need to start looking for a job. I’m also quite busy with my Final Year Project as well.”

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1500m head-to-head meetings

IVP 2008/09 – Feroz 4:12.42 (PB), Madankumar 4:13.10 (PB)
SAA Third All-Comers Meet, March 2009 – Feroz 4:14.98, Madankumar 4:15.65
IVP 2009/10, October 2009 – Madankumar 4:10.85 (PB), Feroz 4:12.71
Singapore Open, September 2010 – Madankumar 4:09.72 (PB), Feroz 4:11.91 (PB)
IVP 2011/12, February 2012 – Madankumar 4:12.56, Feroz 4:16.63

IVP 2011/12 Men’s 1500m Final results

1. Madankumar Balakrishnan, National University of Singapore (NUS) – 4 minutes 12.56 seconds
2. Muhammad Shah Feroz, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) – 4:16.63
3. Tay You Wei Adriel, NUS – 4:17.49
4. Tan Boon Han Bryan, NTU – 4:21.43
5. Amritpal Singh Sidhu, Singapore Management University (SMU) – 4:24.54
6. Lim Tien Aik Danny, Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) – 4:28.47
7. Chua You Boon, SIM – 4:32.28
8. Lam Chee Chin Alvin, Temasek Polytechnic (TP) – 4:37.52
9. Alvin Sia, SMU – 4:37.67
10. Loh Yuan Yi, Singapore Polytechnic (SP) – 4:48.54
11. Albert Chang, Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) – 4:51.84
12. Pravin Raj s/o Muthumanickam, Institute of Technical Education (ITE) – 4:55.57
13. Mohamed Ajmi Bin Hamid, Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) – 4:59.96
14. Lin Jun Ren, TP – 5:05.57
15. Md Rabani Abdul Aziz, Republic Polytechnic (RP) – 5:11.60
16. Muhd Fadhli Sheikh Gulam Ghouse, ITE – 5:39.92