All eyes will be on India’s 24 years old international sprinter from Maharashtra, Pranav Gurav
Sprinters from India and Sri Lanka will battle out for top honours in the men and women’s 100m sprints on Day-One of the fourth edition of the South Asian Athletics Championships starting here at Ranchi’s Birsa Munda (Morabadi) Stadium on Friday.
“It will be a close contest between Indian and Sri Lankan athletes in the 100m dash tomorrow,” R Seenivasan, India’s sprint coach said on the eve of the South Asian Athletics Championships.
All eyes will be on India’s 24 years old international sprinter from Maharashtra, Pranav Gurav. The Maharashtra’s sprinter has a season best of 10.27 seconds clocked in April in Kochi.
Harsh Raut, 21, is the second Indian in the men’s 100m field.
The Indian duo will have to battle it out with Sri Lanka’s reigning 100m champion Chamod Yodasinghge to win top spot. “The men’s 100m race will be a keen contest,” 25 years old Yodasinghge said.
Sri Lanka’s Diyalawaththa DS will be second sprinter in the men’s race.
There will be 11 sprinters in the field, including two each from India and Sri Lanka.
The women’s 100m podium will also be all about India and Sri Lanka. India’s Jilna MV and Sudeshna Shivankar will be in fray in the women’s 100m dash.
The day will start with the preliminary round in the men’s 100m dash.
Overall nine medal events are scheduled for the opening day, including triple jump (men) and shot put (men).
Samardeep Gill, India’s rising thrower from Madhya Pradesh, will compete in men’s shot put. Gill is looking ahead to score a personal best on Friday. “I’m confident to cross the 20m mark tomorrow,” Gill said of his Friday’s plan.
Jharkhand’s minister of state for sports and youth affairs, Sudivya Kumar said the collective efforts of all the stakeholders, including Government of Jharkhand and Athletics Federation of India will make the South Asian Athletics Championships a grand success. “We have made all necessary arrangements for the competitors as well as for the sporting fraternity,” Jharkhand’s sports minister said on Thursday.
More than 200 athletes from six countries including host India will be in action during the three-day meet in Ranchi. Apart from India and Sri other participating nations are Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Maldives
ENDS
