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Barely a week after topping the medals tally the Asian All-Star meet in New Delhi, leading Indian athletes will be seen in action again as they gather at the National Institute of Sports, Patiala, for the 50th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championship starting Thursday.
The meet was originally scheduled to be held in Hyderabad in September. The event assumes importance as it is the one final chance for the participants to impress the selectors for the Commonwealth Games and the Guangzhou Asian Games .
"We had decided some two months back about this championship, and I do not feel that brief time period between this and the All-Star meet would impact athletes," Athletics Federation of India's secretary Ravinder Chowdhary told The Indian Express. "We are expecting new faces to shine in this meet."
Manjit, Renjith to skip event
However, a few of the big names have decided to give the event a miss. Quarter-miler Manjit Kaur has already sought exemption from the event due to hamstring injury she suffered in New Delhi, while the triple jump national-record holder, Renjith Maheswary of Kerela, is also skipping the competition.
"After a gap of four days performing in two top events is difficult in this humid heat. Therefore I would straightway participate in the World Cup to be held in September in Croatia," Maheswary said. As many as 708 athletes including 233 women, from 25 states of the country have confirmed participation in the four day event.
Chief national coach Bahadur Singh said: "Performance is the key to selection and this event would give new comers a golden chance to compete with the best in the country and mark their presence."
Among the prominent athletes who have assembled here are discus throwers Krishna Poonia, Harwant Kaur and Seema Antil, promising Kerela jumper Mayookha Johny, women sprinters HM Jyothi, Mandeep Kaur, hurdlers Jauna Murmu and Gayathri Govindraj.
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