HIMA EYES SPOT AT ASIAN MEET
Patiala, March 14: All the top athletes except star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and a few others will be seen in action in the four-day Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championship which begins here on Friday.
Neeraj, who is currently training in South Africa since January 12, has been exempted from participation in this first big meet of the season, which also serves as the selection trials for the April 19 to 24 Asian Championships in Doha.
National record holder long jumper M. Sreeshankar will also miss the event as he is injured while Delhi high jumper Tejaswin Shankar, who is on a full scholarship at the Kansas State University in USA, will not compete due to clash with examination dates.
The Athletics Federation of India has made it mandatory for all the athletes, except those who have been exempted, to take part in the Federation Cup if they want to get selected for the Asian Championships. However, the selection committee is expected to take a final call on the matter.
The AFI has already laid down tough qualifying standards for the Asian Championships.
Among those who will be seen in action include India’s new sprint sensation Hima Das, her male counterpart quartermiler Mohammad Anas, Asian Games gold medallists Jinson Johnson (800m and 1500), Manjit Singh (800m and 1500m), Arpinder Singh (triple jump), Tajinder Singh Toor (shot put), Swapna Barman (heptathlon).
Silver medallist in the 100m and 200m at the Asian Games, Dutee Chand will be the star attraction in the same events. She will face stiff competition from Hima in the women’s 200m.
Javelin thrower Davinder Singh Kang, who was a strong competitor of Neeraj till 2017 when he tested positive for a banned drug, will return to action after being cleared of doping charges.