Top guns eye big picture

 Every new season arrives with familiar birth pangs in Indian athletics. Athletes acting coy of competition, alterations to the published calendar and uncertainty over qualification standards for major meets inevitably point to a lack of direction season after season.

The picture won’t be very different when action begins at the 19th Federation Cup here on Friday, after Thursday’s elaborate and colourful inauguration. The event has been dubbed as the selection meet for the Asian Championships next month in Wuhan, China. But the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) couldn’t publish a list of norms in advance and only on the eve of the meet did it state -- that too tentatively -- that the third-place finish at the last Asian Championship in Pune will be the standard for selection.

Given the ways of the AFI, it is fair to assume that the norms will change in the coming days but at least, there is some goal to aim at, however tough, when athletes hit the track at the Mangala Stadium, the home of track and field in this region.

After the National Games closed the last season, it has been a period of quiet preparation for the athletes. Despite coming at an unwelcome time, there were several highs at the National Games but the rescheduling of the Indian Grand Prix series has delayed the start of the new season, leaving the athletes with just one competition in their plate before the Asian meet.

Despite such a limited opportunity, many have chosen to skip the season-opener due to various reasons. Asian Games discus champion Seema Antil – preparing to go abroad for training -- is among those missing out while O P Jaisha, who dominated the long distance events at Thiruvananthapuram, is also away, after deciding to focus on marathon. Steeplechaser Sudha Singh, triple jumper Renjith Maheswary and middle-distance runner Sajeesh Joseph too figure in the list of absentees, perhaps feeling their preparation is not good enough to warrant a presence here.

For the top guns who have made it to Mangaluru, there are bigger goals to aim at – qualification for the World Championships and the Olympic Games – apart from the Asian meet.

The qualification period for the Worlds started in October last year while for the Olympics, May 1 marks the start of the journey, even though not many among the 800-strong field here are even capable of dreaming it, offering an apt picture of the state of Indian athletics.

Men’s track especially looks bare, with Arokia Rajiv, the 400M bronze winner at the Asian Games, being the leading light here, with his main rival, P Kunhumohammad not in fray. Long-jumper Ankit Sharma, who went past the eight-metre barrier with an 8.04M leap at Thiruvananthapuram, and triple jumper Arpinder Singh, who set a national record of 17.17M last year, demand attention in the jumps. Kumarvel Premkumar, another in the 8M club, is absent, having decided to train in the United States.

With discus thrower Vikas Gowda also training and competing in the United States, the focus in the throws will be limited to the shot put ring where Inderjeet Singh and Om Prakash Singh Karhana are capable of going past the 20M mark. Inderjeet is the man in form, with a 20.14M at the National Games underlining his intentions.

In the women’s events, Dutee Chand, having gained more time from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, will get a chance to further push the boundaries in sprints while M R Poovamma will be in spotlight in the 400M.

Poovamma is, of course, the firm favourite but more significantly, she will be competing in front of her home crowd, looking to put in an impressive show.

Representing ONGC here, Poovamma is unlikely to be tested if she is at her best. Anilda Thomas, who ran an impressive time at the National Games, is missing while the presence of Tintu Luka adds interest. Tintu’s main focus remains the 800M, where she already holds a qualifying time for the World Championships. The two-lap race will offer evidence of her progress before bigger meets, the P T Usha-trainee having run 2:01.86 at Thiruvananthapuram.

Lalita Babar, who ran a 9:42.62 in the 3000M steeplechase at the National Games, is another who needs to be watched while in the field, the return of Mayookha Johny triggers interest in long jump, where the Indian standards have dipped badly in recent times. From the Karnataka point of view, decathlete Abhishek Shetty is the best bet in the men’s events while team captain Sahana Kumari leads the quest among women, targeting another gold in high jump. Sahana has six Federation Cup gold medals in her bag and a seventh one will certainly be a prize for her perseverance.


Finals on day one: 6.00 am: 5000M women. 6.45 am: 5000M men. 3.30 pm: Women’s pole vault; women’s discus throw; 5.00 pm: Women’s long jump; Women’s high jump; Women’s javelin.