Opportunity for youth at the Ranchi Fed Cup track meet

Although the senior national season began in March with a series of Grand Prix events, turnout was lukewarm, especially in pitching. One reason could be that the events were held in South India (Bengaluru and Trivandrum), which are not particularly known for producing launchers. One day before the event in Ranchi, several athletes began their warm-up and training routine and most seemed pleased with the facilities on offer. But the absence of a synthetic secondary warm-up track, as is the case at most places across the country, is something they won’t like.

Here are some events and players to watch out for in the competition:

200m (male)

Assam sprinter Amlan Borgohain showed he is in great form, completing a double sprint twice in the Grand Prix events. The 200m national record holder loves to set high standards for himself and it won’t be a surprise if he puts in an incredible time in Ranchi.

400m (men)

With most of the national quarter horse campers taking part in the event, the 400 m has almost 50 entries. With the current national record holder, Mohammed Anas, underperforming in recent seasons, youngster Amoj Jacob has a chance to take over. He won the first stage of the Grand Prix with a time of 46.13s, but he will have to tighten the screws to post a sub-46 race.

Long jump (men)

With top jumpers Jeswin Aldrin and Sreeshankar Murali currently training abroad, other youngsters have the chance to show off their prowess. Uttar Pradesh’s Rishabh Rishihiwar posted a personal best of 7.77m in the national jumps a few months ago and could become the latest 8m club entrant.

Triple jump (male)

All eyes will be on Harikrishnan’s national coach trainees Abdulla Aboobacker and Karthik U. Commonwealth Games champion Eldhose Paul, another Hari trainee, will miss the event due to injury. Abdulla just won a gold medal at a continental event in Japan, but has yet to break the 17m mark this year. The old workhorse and Asian Games champion Arpinder Singh, who has been out of action for some time due to his poor fitness, is back. He has been training with Cuban JSW coach Yoandri Betanzos and is eager to find a rhythm with him ahead of the Asian Games in October.

Javelin (male)

Manu DP is the favorite to take gold, but he will have his eyes on more than just finishing on top. At the April Grand Prix, he recorded a throw of 84.33m, just 2cm below his own personal best. The Yadav brothers Rohit, Rohan and Sachin will also be in action. Shivpal Yadav, whose doping ban was reduced to one year by NOTHING, will participate in his second event since he resumed competition.

400m (women)

A duel between the young guns Priya Mohan and Aishwarya Kailash is on the line. Although Aishwarya has a personal best of 51.18s, he has not been a regular on the circuit while Priya is going through a rough patch. He recently parted ways with trainer Ajay Arjun and has been training at the JSW facility in Bellary.

100m hurdles

Jyothi Yarraji is a clear favorite in this event. After a record-breaking outdoor season last year when she rewrote the national hurdles record numerous times, the Andhra athlete started 2023 on the right foot by rewriting the indoor 60m hurdles mark five times in three weeks. and also bagged an Asian silver indoors. By Jyothi standards, anything less than a national brand would not do it justice.

Javelin (women)

Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Annu Rani, who returned from a four-month training spell in Germany, has yet to start her season. The Ranchi field is unlikely to challenge the athlete from Uttar Pradesh, who is the best thrower in the country by distance. It will be interesting to see how she shapes up in the run up to the Asian Games.