India eyes strong outing in Asian Championships

SOUTH KOREA: The redoubtable Neeraj Chopra will be missing in action but the 59-strong Indian contingent would nonetheless aim for a double-digit medal haul, riding primarily on strong performances by its track athletes when the 26th Asian Athletics Championship gets underway here on Tuesday.

Chopra has yet again decided to skip the biennial event to focus on the Diamond League series leaving Pakistan's Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem as the top draw in the men's javelin throw competition.

The Indian challenge in Javelin would be anchored by the relatively inexperienced Sachin Yadav and Yashvir Singh.

The men's 20km race walk will be the first medal event of the championships on Tuesday. Servin Sebastian, and Amit, will be the Indian representatives and have posted competitive times in the build up to the event.

Both of them are banking on "conducive" conditions to ensure a strong performance.

"The local weather conditions in the morning are conducive for distance events. I should be able to improve my personal best on Tuesday," Sebastian said of his preparation in a press release issued by Athletics Federation of India (AFI).

After the race walking event in the morning session, focus during the day will shift to track and field events.

The women's javelin throw is the second medal event and for India, Asian Games champion Annu Rani would be a strong hope. The 32-year-old has a season's best of 58.82m recorded in March in Mumbai, which is nowhere close to her best.

Her personal best and national record of 63.82m was set in 2022 and she finished fourth at the previous edition of the continental meet in Bangkok in 2023.

The day will also see Indian quarter-milers go through the preliminary round grind to advance to the semi-final scheduled later during the day. Rupal Chaudhary, Vithya Ramraj, Jay Kumar and Vishal TK will be in action in their respective 400m heats.

The quarter-milers are also expected to do well in the 4x400 relays to be held later in the championship but have already been struck by controversy after a woman member of the team was dropped owing to a suspected dope violation.

At the fag-end of day one, onus will be on India's star distance runner and Asian Games medallist Gulveer Singh to enhance medal tally. The 26-year-old will compete in men's 10,000m.

The Indian men's triple jump team of Praveen Chithravel and Abdulla Aboobacker too have a bright chance of a podium finish. Aboobacker is the defending champion.

The spotlight will also be on Avinash Sable (men's 3000m steeplechase) and rising stars such as Jyothi Yarraji (100m hurdles) and Parul Chaudhary (women's 3000m steeplechase).