Gandhinagar: Newly crowned National Games sprint champions Amlan Borgohain and Jyothi Yarraji will lead the field as the season-ending 61st AFI National Open Athletics Championships will begin at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Assam-born sprinter Amlan Borgohain and 100m Hurdler Jyothi Yarraji from Andhra Pradesh were scorching the track at the IIT Gandhinagar by winning a golden double each in the 36th National Games.
In the absence of Olympic champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and Commonwealth Games 3000m Steeplechase silver medallist Avinash Sable, seasoned shot-putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor will look to make the most of the opportunity after missing the World Championships in July due to an injury.
In the recent domestic competitions, the men’s long jumpers and triple jumpers have trained the spotlight on themselves. However, with long jumpers M Sreeshankar, Jeswin Alrdrin and Muhammed Anees Yahiya and triple jumpers Eldhose Paul, Abdulla Aboobacker and Praveen Chithravel skipping the meet, the interest around the sand pits may come down a bit.
As many as 868 athletes from 31 teams, including four institutions, will vie for honours in the five-day meet. Being the only team with more than 100 athletes, Railways has the largest number of entries. With a 50-strong women’s squad, the most for any team, Railways has a total of 103 entries.
Interestingly, for the first time, Services will have representation in the women’s competition, with 400m runner Summy joining the Army recently. Among the states and Union Territories, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are fielding the biggest contingents with 87 and 80 athletes respectively. Assam and Ladakh will have the smallest teams with two athletes each.
Four finals are scheduled for the opening day with the men and women’s 20km Race Walk starting the proceedings while women pole vaulters, notably Rosy Meena Paulraj who set a national record in the National Games in Gandhinagar, and discus throwers will be competing for medals in the afternoon.
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