Top Indian athletes take centre stage as race for World Championship spots reaches final hurdle at Inter-State Senior Athletics

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s Praveen Chithravel heads into the 64th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships in Chennai with his World Championships spot already sealed, while fellow triple jumper Abdulla Aboobacker, all but assured of qualification, will be eager to lay down a strong marker as the competition kicks off on Wednesday at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The meet carries immense significance for athletes as it serves as the final qualifying event for the upcoming World Championships in Tokyo, scheduled from September 13.

In the build-up, however, several of India’s top names have been forced to end their seasons due to injuries. Among them are hurdler Jyothi Yarraji, who suffered a knee injury during training, and steeplechaser Avinash Sable, who tore his ACL during the Monaco Diamond League. Another setback has been the failure of both the mixed and men’s relay teams to secure direct qualification for the World Championships.

“The number of participants has increased overall, but we had expected our men’s relay team to qualify. That didn’t happen, and we hoped they could make it here. Unfortunately, that is also not possible now because our main runners are injured, and the chances of qualification are very slim,” India’s chief athletics coach Radhakrishnan Nair told media.

On a brighter note, local lad Praveen is eagerly awaiting support from family members and fans travelling from across districts to watch him compete on Friday evening. “I want to do something special. Many people are coming to see me, and I want to use this event to understand where my body is at the moment,” said Praveen, who booked his World Championships spot by equalling his own national record of 17.37m at the Federation Cup in Kochi. Earlier in July, he claimed silver at the World University Games with a jump of 16.66m and is determined to keep pushing for personal bests.

Abdulla, who won gold at the Indian Open Athletics Bronze event in Bhubaneswar earlier this month, began his season with a 17.19m effort in Bengaluru. He believes a strong performance in Chennai will further boost his self-belief. “In terms of qualification, my world ranking of 30 is fine. But if I can get a good jump here, it'll help boost my confidence,” Abdulla said.

One last shot for Rajesh

It has not been the smoothest of rides in recent times for quarter-miler Rajesh Ramesh, who has been grappling with injuries. After a spell of rehabilitation at the NCoE in Thiruvananthapuram, he made his comeback at the Indian Grand Prix II. Rajesh has clocked sub- 46s twice this season but a hamstring injury forced him to miss the Continental Bronze event. Now, he feels ready to give it one last push to qualify for the upcoming World Championships.

“I hope to do my personal best in this competition. I’ve recovered and I feel much better now. I’ll give it my best,” Rajesh told the media.

Similar challenges await long jumpers Murali Sreeshankar and Shaili Singh, who will also be looking to produce strong performances in order to secure their berths for the World Championships.