Opportunity for young athletes to shine in the absence of seniors at National Open Athletics Championships

CHENNAI: The upcoming National Open Athletics Championships in Bengaluru will be the first major athletics competition in India after the Paris Olympics. With the majority of the Paris Games’ contingent giving the tournament a miss, the competition will help identify fine young talent from across the country.

The notable names in the tournament, scheduled to be held from August 30 to September 2, includes national record holder Tejas Shirse (men’s 110m hurdles), Animesh Kujur (men’s 200m) and Rosy Meena Paulraj (women’s pole vault).

The director of Athletics for Reliance Foundation, James Hillier, said, “It will be the final competition of this year for some of our senior athletes, so they will be looking to end the season on a high and get some confidence ahead of a big year next year that has the Asian Championships, World University Games and the World Championships too.

“For the U23 athletes, this tournament will be ideal preparation for the U23 nationals, which will take place next month. The junior nationals are also coming up in November, so this will be a good opportunity for our young athletes too to get quality competition time. Bengaluru is a very good venue with a fast track and good facilities for throwing too.”

Tejas had a good start to the season as he clocked NR time of 13.41 seconds in men’s 110m hurdles in the Motonet GP competition in Finland.

The 22-year-old delivered his best but could not make the cut- off for Paris. With the world championships scheduled for next year, Tejas will look to make a mark and breach the qualifying time for the automatic qualifying spot.

Sprinter Animesh, who had impressed many with his recent performances, will look to carry forward his good run. In the field events, Sahil Silwal and Vikrant Malik (men’s javelin) will be one of the favourites to finish on the podium. After a barren run last year, Silwal (81.81m) came back strongly to win gold at the Senior Inter-State Athletics meet in June.