Fed Cup Athletics Championships: Injury forces Hima Das out; Tajinderpal Singh Toor, Annu Rani top attractions

Asian Games champion shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist javelin thrower Annu Rani will headline the Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championship starting on Monday.

Several top athletes, including the likes of Birmingham CWG gold winner triple jumper Eldhose Paul, silver medallists Avinash Sable (300m steeplechase) and Murali Sreeshankar (long jump) will not feature in the four-day meet.

A hamstring injury suffered last month has also forced star sprinter Hima Das out of the championships, which will see more than 5000 athletes vying for honours at the Birsa Munda Stadium.

The first major domestic track and field event of the season will act as a qualifying event for the 12-16 July Asian Athletics Championships scheduled to be held in Bangkok.

It will also be a good platform for aspiring athletes aiming to achieve qualification standards for the August 19-27 Budapest World Athletics Championships and Hangzhou Asian Games scheduled to be held in September-October.

Some other top athletes missing out include men’s long jump national record holder Jeswin Aldrin, national record holder long jumper, talented long jumper Shaili Singh and triple jumper Praveen Chithravel, who recently bettered the national record, among others.

Most of them are training or competing abroad as part of preparations for the Asian Games and World Championships.

The 30-year-old Annu, also the national record holder, has been training in Offenburg, Germany since February and she will kick start her 2023 season.

Hima Das to skip Federation Cup

Star sprinter Hima Das will also miss the Federation Cup as she is nursing a hamstring injury which she sustained just before the Indian Grand Prix IV in Bengaluru on April 15.

“It’s (Hima’s injury) not the old back problem but a hamstring injury. She suffered the injury just a day before the IGP IV in Bengaluru,” a top source told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

“She is undergoing rehabilitation and we are hoping that she would be back at the National Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar (June 15-19).” The National Inter-State Championships will be the qualifying event for the Asian Games in Hangzou in China in September-October.

Hima had won gold in the IGP III in Bengaluru on April 10 with a time of 23.77s. He entered her named for the IGP IV on April 15 but did not start due to the injury.

Hima had won an individual 400m silver in the 2018 Asian Games as well as gold and silver in the women’s 4x400m relay and mixed 4x400m relay races.

Opening day action

On the opening day, competitors will vie for medals in five events, including the gruelling 10,000m track races in both men and women’s category scheduled for morning session.

The men’s 25-lap race has attracted as many as 49 entries, while seven athletes have confirmed their entries for the corresponding women’s race.

The evening session will witness finals in women’s hammer throw and 3000m men’s and women’s steeplechase event.

The opening day will also determine the finalists in the men’s 100m and the 400m.

Amiya Kumar Mallick of Odisha, who holds the national record of 10.26 seconds clocked in 2016, will be seen in action in the 100m dash.

The men’s 400m heats scheduled for morning session will see some of the country’s finest quarter-milers, including Amoj Jacob and Muhammed Anas, battle it out for a place in the final. There are 48 entries in the men’s 400m competition.

In the women’s 400m, Maharashtra’s Aishwarya Mishra, Jisna Mathew of Kerala and Kiran Pahal of Haryana will be the main attraction.

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