National Federation Cup Sr Athletics meet in Kochi will be an opportunity for track and field athletes to prove their mettle

More than 400 top athletes of the country will be in action at the 28th National Federation Senior Athletics Competition in Kochi from Monday, looking to book berths for next month’s Asian Championships in Gumi, South Korea.

The competition is expected to be intense as India’s best track and field athletes assemble at Kochi’s Maharaja College synthetic track for the four-day event.

The first medal event on Monday will be men’s 10,000m followed by women’s 25-lap race.

Army’s Sawan Barwal has been dominating the men’s 25-lap race during the domestic competition in the build up to the National Federation Senior Athletics Competition. He exuded confidence on the eve of the competition and even predicted a faster time. His personal best in 10,000m is 28:49.93 clocked in February on his way to gold medal at the 38th National Games in Uttarakhand.

“The training has been on the right track,” Barwal added. “Hopefully I will be able to improve my personal best tomorrow.”

Later during the day focus will shift to men’s javelin throw. All eyes will be on the talented Sachin Yadav from Uttar Pradesh. “I should be able to achieve a World Athletics qualification mark of 85.50m,” Yadav said.

His personal best is 84.39m recorded in February.

The men and women 400m will also witness close competition. Apart from Asian Championship berths, top quarter-milers will aim to cement their places in the national relay squad for the May 10-11 World Athletics Relays in China.

Away from the field and longer track events, the men’s 100m will also draw attention. Focus will be on Punjab’s Gurindervir Singh who shattered the national record earlier this year clocking 10.20 seconds.

The competition in Kochi has attracted 470 athletes, including 167 female athletes.