CHENNAI, June 9: Some of them are already on a record-breaking spree but those who are struggling will strive to rediscover form and stake claim in Indian team for the Commonwealth Games as the National Inter-State Senior Championships are set to kick off, here Friday.
Olympic Champion Neeraj Chopra and 3000m steeplechase ‘record man’ Avinash Sable will not be there but all other top athletes of the country will compete in the crucial five-day event.
Sable on Sunday had finished a creditable fifth with a time of 8:12.48, breaking his own national record for the eighth time during the Diamond League Meeting in Morocco.
The Sports Ministry had recently sanctioned the extension of his training stint at Colorado Springs in the USA there till July 24.
Besides being the last major event before the AFI picks the squad for the July 28 to August 8 CWG in Birmingham, athletes can also make a last-ditch effort to touch the qualifying standards for the July 15-24 World Championships in Eugene, USA.
More than 600 athletes from 23 states and Union Territories will vie for top honours. Sri Lanka has also sent an 11-member team.
Except for Chopra and possibly Sable and those recuperating from injuries, the cream of Indian athletics will be there.
The likes of seasoned campaigners Hima Das, Dutee Chand, Seema Punia, Annu Rani, Jyothi Yarraji among women and M Sreeshankar, Tajinderpal Singh Toor and Muhammed Anas Yahiya from among men are all taking part in the event.
Chopra, who had become the first Indian track and field athlete to win an Olympic gold, is currently training in Europe and has a big-ticket contest on June 14 in Finland where he will be up against some of the best in the world.
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