Thirty nine RF athletes aim for glory at National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships
Among the big names in action will be Tejas Shirse (men's 110m hurdles), Manikanta Hoblidhar (men's 100m and 200m), Gurindervir Singh (men's 100m), Amlan Borgohain (men's 100m and 200m), Mohammed Afsal (men's 800m) and Animesh Kujur (men's 200m and 4x100m relay), who continues his red hot form by waltzing to Gold in the 200m event at the inaugural Indian Open
World Athletics Continental Tour in Bhubaneswar on August 10.
Afsal, who also won Gold in Bhubaneswar while braving diarrhoea, and Tejas are the current national record holders in their respective event. Tejas has been in fine fettle too, clocking his second fastest time ever of 13.51s at the Meeting voor Mon — a World Athletics Challenger level meet — in Belgium over the weekend.
Speaking about the significance of the tournament, James Hillier, Athletics Director, Reliance Foundation, said, 'The National Inter State Championships is one of the most important events in
the Indian athletics calendar. It is a very high quality competition which serves as a selection trial for the World Championships too. We take this event very seriously and want our athletes to do really well. The facility in Chennai is very good and we're hoping for some good weather and good performances.'
With many athletes supported by the Reliance foundation in contention to qualify for the Worlds, Hillier said, 'Gulveer Singh has already qualified and has an exemption from competing in this event. Animesh will aim to dominate the 200m event, where he has been phenomenal all year. He would want to secure his place on the plane to Tokyo. Tejas has had an injury interrupted year but he'll be raring to go after a season best display in Europe. He has an outside chance of making the team for Tokyo.'
Among the other medalists from Bhubaneswar who will be looking to back up their feat at the tournament will be Pragyan Sahu (women's 100m hurdles and 4x100m relay) and Lokesh S
(men's long jump). Seema, who won a historic medal at the World University Games in the
form of a stunning silver in the 5000m event, will be aiming for a 5000m and 10000m double
here.
The tournament will serve as a key preparation as well as qualification for the World
Championships in Tokyo next month.
The participation of Reliance Foundation and Odisha HPC athletes underlines the Foundation's
long-standing commitment to Indian athletics—nurturing talent, providing access to world-class facilities, coaching and international exposure, and building a holistic ecosystem from grassroots
to elite levels.
UNI BM
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