CHENNAI: FOR many Indian athletes, the Asian Athletics Championship would be a chance to redeem themselves after disappointment due to injuries. For a few athletes, the meet comes as an opportunity to express themselves on the continental level. The 26th edition of the Asian meet will kickstart in Gumi, South Korea from Tuesday, and conclude on Saturday. India will have Servin Sebastian and Amit participating in the 20-kilometre race walk for men starting at 4.30 am IST on Tuesday. The 59-member Indian contingent, high on confidence, will be stepping on the tracks with their sights on the medals. Double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra, however, will not take part in this tournament.
Jyothi Yarraji(100m hurdles), Abdulla Aboobacker(Triple Jump), Parul Chaudhary(3000m steeplechase) and the mixed 4x400m relay team will be defending the gold medals, which they won in the 2023 edition at Thailand. This event provides a platform for athletes to qualify to the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo set to happen in September this year. Long and middle distance runner and national record holder in 5000 metres and 10,000m Gulveer Singh is well primed for a podium finish in the 5000 metre race. Steeplechasers Avinash Sable and Parul are also expected to finish on the podium. Women long jumper Shaili Singh will have to jump better than her personal best of 6.76m, if she wishes to qualify for the Worlds. She though is a strong medal contender. The men's javelin throw will have most of the attention. Paris Olympics gold medallist from Pakistan Arshad Nadeem will be the star attraction. For India, It would be young sensation Sachin Yadav who is keen to challenge Nadeem. Overall, India would want to end this month on a high, and fly back home with as many medals as possible, and a top-two finish in the medal tally.
Schedule for Day 1 and Day 2 (India)
Tuesday
4:30 AM - 20km Race Walk Men Final - Servin Sebastian, Amit 5:30 AM - Decathlon 1 (100m) - Tejaswin Shankar 5:45 AM - High Jump Men Qualification- Sarvesh Kushare 5:50 AM - 1500m Men Round 1- Yoonus Shah 6:10 AM - 400m Men Round 1 - Jay Kumar and Vishal TK
6:15 AM - Decathlon 2 (Long Jump) - Tejaswin Shankar 6:50 AM - 400m Women Round 1 - Rupal Chaudhary, Vithya Ramraj 8:05 AM - Decathlon 3 (Shot Put) - Tejaswin Shankar 11:05 AM - Decathlon 4 (High Jump) - Tejaswin Shankar 11:10 AM - Javelin Throw Women Final - Annu Rani 12:35 PM - 400m Women Semi-Final - Rupal Chaudhary, Vithya Ramraj 12:50 PM - 10,000m men Final - Gulveer Singh, Sawan Barwal 1:45 PM - Decathlon 5 (400m) - Tejaswin Shankar.
Wednesday
6:30 AM - Decathlon 6 (100mH) - Tejaswin Shankar 6:35 AM - Long Jump Women Qualification - Shaili Singh, Ancy Sojan 7:15 AM - Decathlon 7 (Discus Throw) - Tejaswin Shankar 7:30 AM - 100m Hurdles Women Round 1 - Jyothi Yarraji 8:05 AM - Mixed 4*400m Relay Qualification 8:45 AM - Decathlon 8 (Pole Vault) - Tejaswin Shankar 1:30 PM - Decathlon 9 (Javelin Throw) - Tejaswin Shankar 1:50 PM - Triple jump men Final - Praveen Chithravel, Abdulla Aboobacker 2:20 PM - 400m women Final 2:30 PM - 1500m men Final 2:40 PM- 1500m women Final - Lili Das, Pooja 2:50 PM - 10,000m women Final - Sanjivani Baburao Jadhav, Seema 3:45 PM - Decathlon 10 (1500m men) Final 4:10 PM - 4x400m Mixed Relay Final.