India banks on track stars for strong medal show in Asian Championships
The redoubtable Neeraj Chopra will be missing in action, but the 59-strong Indian contingent would nonetheless aim for a double-digit medal haul, riding primarily on strong performances by its track athletes when the 26th Asian Athletics Championship gets underway in Gumi on Tuesday (May 27, 2025).
Chopra has yet again decided to skip the biennial event to focus on the Diamond League series leaving Pakistan's Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem as the top draw in the men's javelin throw competition.
The Indian challenge in this event would be anchored by the relatively inexperienced Sachin Yadav and Yashvir Singh.
The men's 20km race walk will be the first medal event of the championships on Tuesday (May 27, 2025). Servin Sebastian, 25, and Amit, 21, will be the Indian representatives and have posted competitive times in the build up to the event.
Sebastian ran a personal best of 1:21:23 to win gold at the Uttarakhand National Games in February. He continued his good run at the Indian Open Race Walking Competition in April by winning gold (1:21:47).
Amit has a personal and season best of 1:21:52 posted in April in Chandigarh.
Both of them are banking on "conducive" conditions to ensure a strong performance.
"The local weather conditions in the morning are conducive for distance events. I should be able to improve my personal best on Tuesday (May 27, 2025)," Sebastian said of his preparation in a press release issued by Athletics Federation of India (AFI).
After the race walking event in the morning session, focus during the day will shift to track and field events.
The women's javelin throw is the second medal event and for India, Asian Games champion Annu Rani would be a strong hope. The 32-year-old has a season's best of 58.82m recorded in March in Mumbai, which is nowhere close to her best.
Her personal best and national record of 63.82m was set in 2022 and she finished fourth at the previous edition of the continental meet in Bangkok in 2023.
The day will also see Indian quarter-milers go through the preliminary round grind to advance to the semifinals scheduled later during the day. Rupal Chaudhary, Vithya Ramraj (both women), Jay Kumar and Vishal TK (both men) will be in action in their respective 400m heats.
The quarter-milers are also expected to do well in the 4x400 relays to be held later in the championship but have already been struck by controversy after a woman member of the team was dropped owing to a suspected dope violation.
At the fag-end of day one, onus will be on India's star distance runner and Asian Games medallist Gulveer Singh to enhance medal tally. The 26-year-old will compete in men's 10,000m.
Singh has a personal and season's best time of 27:00.22 seconds posted earlier in March on the USA circuit. Sawan Barwal will be the second Indian runner in fray in the 25-lap race.
Sarvesh Anil Kushare (men's high jump qualification) and Yoonus Shah (men's 1500m heat) will also be in action on day one of the Asian meet.
The Indian men's triple jump team of Praveen Chithravel and Abdulla Aboobacker too have a bright chance of a podium finish. Aboobacker is the defending champion.
Chithravel's season's best of 17.37m recorded during a domestic meet in April, has given a big boost to his confidence.
"There will be no triple jump qualification on day one. The competitors will directly showcase their potential in the final on day two," chief national coach Radhakrishnan Nair said.
The spotlight will also be on Avinash Sable (men's 3000m steeplechase) and rising stars such as Jyothi Yarraji (100m hurdles) and Parul Chaudhary (women's 3000m steeplechase).
The elite continental showpiece will feature 2000 athletes from 43 countries of the region with China and Japan being the most successful in terms of medals won. India is third on the all-time list.
In the previous edition held in Bangkok, India logged its joint best ever performance, snaring 27 medals, including six gold, 12 silver and nine bronze. The Indian contingent would be hoping to at least match, if not better, this performance.
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