CHENNAI: The world of artificial intelligence, machines, robots, and humans fused into an eclectic display of one of the most talked-about Opening Ceremonies of the Asian Games last Saturday. There were lasers, non-polluting pyros, and human features resembling holograms. Among the riot of sound and light, there were people too. They marched, cheered, and danced. The venue, Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, was at its most mesmerizing divine display of splendor.
Six days later, the venue will roar again. There will be loud cheers and applause too. This time though, it won't be for AIs or lasers. This time it would be for pure human feat. It’s the stage where athletes will test the limits of their human endurance, power, and skill; where they would seek to reach sublime heights of triumph through human achievement.
As the Asian Games turns towards its business end, India would be hoping to excel in a sport it has dominated for quite some time at the Asian level. Athletics. In the last edition, they finished with 20 medals including eight gold. This time, after a successful Asian Championships, India would be looking for an encore. The field is pretty much evenly spread and in certain track and field events, they would hope to better their record.
Athletics Federation of India (AFI) president, Adille Sumariwalla, sounded confident and felt India should be doing better than the last edition. "I am sure they will do better than Jakarta Games,” he told this daily from Hangzhou after the one-sided India versus Japan hockey group stage match. “There are two things here, one good and another not so good. The not-so-good thing is that the season has been very long with the Asian Athletics Championships, World Championships, and now the Asian Games. Here, we are competing in China against China. The latter is always very tricky.” The Chinese athletes have not competed much this season giving the Asian Championships and the Worlds a miss.
Olympic and world champion, Neeraj Chopra, reached Hangzhou on Thursday and as it usually happens, his presence has buoyed the mood in the camp. It has given me more confidence to go out and win as many medals as possible. Yet if India needs to reach anywhere near #isbaar100paar, this is the sport India can count on.
“Neeraj is an icon,” said Sumariwalla. “He doesn’t just give Indian athletes confidence but also everyone around him. He is almost like Usain Bolt. When he was in the dining hall, everyone wanted to take photographs with him and speak to him. One must also realize that he is very good with the athletes. He helps the juniors talks to them and motivates them. His presence is a big difference in the team.” Sumariwalla said that the way it looks, India should win more gold too. What is good about the team is that everyone is fit. “We had a fitness test before the Games and everyone is fit. Whosoever is not fit, we did not want to risk them because of the Olympics next year,” said the AFI chief.
Sumariwalla felt this time, the support the team is getting is quite exceptional. “We have around 17 coaches, two doctors, four physios four masseurs and two managers,” he said. “That’s a great support crew and we have made sure no one can have any excuse for lack of support staff.”
The competition will start with a 20km walk on Friday. The field again is expected to be dominated by Chinese and Japanese walkers. Vikash Singh with a personal best of 1:20:05s and Sandeep Kumar (personal best: 1:20:16s) will take on China’s Jun Zhang who has a PB of 1:17:38s and Japan’s Tomohiro Noda with a best of 1:19:00. There are two other walkers below 1:20:00 too. In the women’s, Priyanka has a better chance with just two walkers from China with better marks. Shot put final is in the evening where two Indians -- Manpreet Kaur (18.86m) and Kiran Baliyan (17.92m) feature but the top spots are reserved for Olympic champion Gong Lijiao (20.58) and Jiayuan Song (20.38).
However, that’s not where India would be looking to shop for medals. The women’s 100m hurdles is one event where India have a good chance of even winning gold with Jyothi Yarraji in fine form. She became the first Indian 100m hurdler to win gold at the Asian Athletics Championships. The 400m runners – Muhammad Anas Yahiya and Mohammad Ajmal – are expected to shine. One race India has dominated is the 400m women’s but it may not be the case this time.
The AFI chief, however, said that they have not decided on the composition of the 4x400m relay teams as of now. “We will see how everyone performs and strategically pick the final four. We had done this at Jakarta also.” Even the mixed 4x400m team is not finalized.
Neeraj’s javelin throw is on the penultimate day (October 4) of the athletics meet and with Arshad Nadeem hitting form at the Worlds, the competition will have more than just rivalry at work. As Neeraj had succinctly put it during an interaction after the Worlds, one cannot escape this India-Pakistan rivalry. All eyes will be on long jumper M Sreeshankar and how much he can hurl himself in the pit after a modest performance in Budapest.
Sreeshankar, with a season-best of 8.41m, will compete against teammate Jeswin Aldrin (PB 8.42m). Praveen Chithravel and Abdulla Aboobacker will renew their rivalry in the triple jump after securing a one-two finish at the Commonwealth Games last year. Steeplechase exponents Avinash Sable and Parul Chaudhury have been creating national records and are expected to scorch the tracks. Shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor, who missed the Worlds due to injury, will look to retain his gold.
The 4x400 men have created an Asian record at the Worlds and are primed to win gold at Hangzhou. “We should not be overconfident,” warned the AFI chief. India is expected to dominate the middle distance with Ajay Kumar Saroj in 1500m and Jinson Johnson entering in 800m. Tejaswin Shankar, competing in decathlon, had a golden run at the Asian Championships and would like to carry the form into the Asian Games. Young Shaili Singh, who won silver at the Asian meet, is eagerly looking forward to the Games. Ultimately, results in athletics will determine where India will finish in the medals tally.