Athletes look to set ablaze track at Asian C’ships

Gumi (S 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 this event 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, 25, and Amit, 21, will be the Indian representatives and have posted competitive times in the build up to the event. Sebastian ran a personal best of 1:21:23 to win gold at the Uttarakhand National Games in February. Amit has a personal and season best of 1:21:52 posted in April in Chandigarh. Both of them are banking on “conducive” conditions to ensure a strong performance.