Sans Chopra, Indian athletes look to set track ablaze 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. He continued his good run at the Indian Open Race Walking Competition in April by winning gold (1:21:47).

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.

“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. 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).