Asian Championships on mind, top athletes to compete in Federation Cup

More than 400 top athletes from across the country will hope to book their berths for next month's Asian Championships when the four-day 28th National Federation Senior Athletics Competition commences here on Monday. The continental event will take place in Gumi, South Korea, from May 27 to 31. The premier annual domestic competition will feature 38 medal events across track and field. The opening day of the event here is expected to witness intense competition in the men's 10,000m, which will be followed by the women's 25-lap race. Army's Sawan Barwal has been dominating the men's 10,000 event at home in the build-up to the competition here.

On the eve of the gruelling race, the 26-year-old Barwal exuded confidence. He had recorded a personal best of 28:49.93 seconds on the way to gold in the 25-lap race at the 38th National Games in Uttarakhand in February. "The training has been on the right track," Barwal said.

"Hopefully I will be able to improve my personal best tomorrow." In men's javelin, all eyes will be on the talented Uttar Pradesh athlete, Sachin Yadav who recorded a personal best of 84.39 metres in February. 

"I should be able to achieve a World Athletics qualification mark of 85.50m," he said.

The men's and women's 400m events could also witness exciting competition. Apart from the Asian Championship berths, India's top quarter-milers will also aim to cement their place in the national relay squad for the World Athletics Relays in China on May 10-11. The men's 100m event will put the focus on Punjab's Gurindervir Singh, who holds the national record of 10.20 seconds. The competition in Kochi has attracted 470 athletes, including 167 female competitors.