Chance for young guns at Ranchi Federation Cup athletics meet

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The Sports Times News Bureau
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New Delhi, May 15, 2023: With several big names giving the Ranchi Federation Cup a miss, it is an opportunity for young guns to leave a mark in the competition that will also serve as a selection trial for the Asian Championships to be held in Thailand in August. As per the entry list, the four-day event will see around 800 athletes, a mix of youngsters and seasoned competitors, at the Birsa Munda football complex in Morabadi, Ranchi.

Although the senior domestic season started in March with a series of Grand Prix events, the participation was lukewarm, especially in throws. One reason could be that the events were held in southern India (Bengaluru and Trivandrum), not particularly known for producing throwers. A day before the event in Ranchi, several athletes hit the ground for their warm-up and training routine and most seemed pleased with the facilities on offer. But the absence of a secondary warm-up synthetic track, as is the case at most venues across the country, is something that they will be unhappy about.

Here are some events and players to watch out for at the competition:

200m (men’s)

400m (men’s)

With most of the quarter-mile national campers taking part in the event, the 400m has almost 50 entries. With the current national record holder Mohammed Anas underperforming over the last few seasons, youngster Amoj Jacob has an opportunity to take over the mantle. He won the first leg of the Grand Prix with a timing of 46.13s but will have to tighten the bolts to clock a sub-46 run.

Long jump (men’s)

With top jumpers Jeswin Aldrin and Sreeshankar Murali currently training overseas, other young guns have an opportunity to show their prowess. Uttar Pradesh’s Rishabh Rishihiwar registered a personal best of 7.77m at the jump nationals a few months ago and could become the latest entrant in the 8m club.

Triple jump (men’s)

All eyes will be on national coach Harikrishnan’s trainees Abdulla Aboobacker and Karthik U. Commonwealth Games champion Eldhose Paul, another Hari trainee, will skip the event due to an injury. Abdulla is fresh from a gold medal at a continental event in Japan but is yet to breach the 17m mark this year. Old warhorse and Asian Games champion Arpinder Singh, who has been out of action for some time due to poor fitness, is back in the mix. He has been training with JSW’s Cuban coach Yoandri Betanzos and is keen to find his rhythm before the Asian Games in October according to the reports published in indianexpress.com.

Javelin (men’s)

Manu DP is the favourite to bag the gold but will have his eyes set on more than just finishing on top. At the Grand Prix in April, he registered a throw of 84.33m, just 2cm short of his personal best. Yadav brothers Rohit, Rohan and Sachin will also be in action. Shivpal Yadav, whose dope ban was reduced to a year by NADA, will be taking part in his second event since resuming competition.

400m (women’s)

A duel between young guns Priya Mohan and Aishwarya Kailash is on the cards. Although Aishwarya has a personal best of 51.18s, she has not been regular on the circuit while Priya is going through a rough patch herself. She recently split with coach Ajay Arjun and has been training at JSW facilities in Bellary.

100m hurdles

Jyothi Yarraji is a clear favourite in this event. After a record-breaking outdoor season last year when she rewrote the hurdles national record on numerous occasions, the Andhra athlete began 2023 on the right foot by rewriting the 60m indoor hurdles mark five times in three weeks and also bagged an Asian indoor silver. As per Jyothi’s standards, anything less than a national mark wouldn’t do justice.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Annu Rani, back from a four-month training stint in Germany, is yet to open her season. The Uttar Pradesh athlete, who is the best thrower in the country by a distance, is unlikely to be challenged by the field in Ranchi. It will be interesting to see how she is shaping up in the run up to the Asian Games.

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