Parul Chowdhary
– Photo: Social Media
Expansion
Long distance runners Parul Chowdhary (5000m and 3000 steeplechase) from Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, Anu Rani (javelin throw) and Jhansi’s long jumper Shelly Singh will shine at the National Athletics Championships, starting at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar from Thursday. Are ready. Apart from her, hurdler Jyoti Yaraji (100m and 100m hurdles) will also be eyeing.
However, experienced players sprinter Hima Das and Dutee Chand will not be able to take part in it. Hima is recovering from injury while Dutee is under suspension for dope. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) had earlier this year made it clear that it is mandatory for athletes to compete in national championships and take into account their performance to be included in the squad for the Asian Games (September 23-October 8). Will go
Priyanka and Bhavna face to face
In the women’s 20km walk, the contest is likely to be between the experienced Priyanka Goswami and Bhawna Jat Goswami. Bhawna has already qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics and the Budapest World Championships. Sanjivani Jadhav will be a strong contender in the women’s 10,000m race. She had finished second at the Portland Track Festival in the US earlier this month with a personal best timing of 32:46.88.
Would also like to qualify for the World Championship
Many athletes will also aim to qualify for the World Championships to be held in Hungary (August 19-27) from this event. The championship was to be held after a month as per the earlier calendar of AFI but it is being held now. This time the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has asked the member countries to send their respective teams for the Asian Games 75 days in advance i.e. by July 15. The athletics events of the Hangzhou Asian Games begin on 29 September.
Injured Neeraj will not play, eyes on Sreesankar
Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra will not take part in the national championships but long jumper Murali Sreesankar will be the focus of all eyes. Chopra is recovering from the injury but even if he was fit, he would have been exempt as he has to train for top-level international events ahead of the World Championships in Budapest in August.
Avinash Sable has also been exempted from participating in the event, which is the final selection event for the upcoming Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, China. Sreeshankar finished third on debut at the Paris Diamond League last week with an effort of 8.09m. Sreeshankar will face a tough challenge from Jaswin Aldrin, who broke his national record earlier this year with an effort of 8.42m.
Other top performers among the men will be sprinter Amlan Borgohain (200m), decathlete Tejaswin Shankar, shot putter Tejinderpal Singh Toor, triple jumper Praveen Chitravel and Eldos Paul. In the absence of national record holder Akshdeep Singh, the experienced Sandeep Kumar will be eyeing a solid show in the men’s 20km race walk. In the presence of national record holder Praveen, Birmingham Commonwealth Games gold and silver medalists Paul and Abdullah Abubakar respectively, the men’s triple jump will see a tough fight.