India 2018 Asian Games champion in men’s shot put and Tokyo Olympian Tajinderpal Singh Toor has confirmed his participation in the second edition of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) National Throwing Competition from on Wednesday (March 1) at the Inspire Institute of Sport in Bellary. , Karnataka.
Toor, the 28-year-old Arjuna Awardee, recently won gold at the Asian Athletics Indoor Championships held in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan. The National Throwing Contest will be their first outdoor competition in 2023. Karanveer Singh, who won silver in the men’s shot put during the Asian Indoor earlier this month, will also be seen in action, according to the AFI.
While the men’s shot put will see India’s top two athletes, elite javelin throwers including Rohit Yadav will skip Bellary’s outdoor competition. Tokyo Olympics champion Neeraj Chopra will also skip the national throwing competition starting Wednesday in Karnataka.
Inderjeet Singh, the 2015 Asian shot put champion, and Sahib Singh will be the other notable throwers who have confirmed their entries in the men’s shot put event.
Punjab’s Manpreet Kaur will be one to watch in the women’s shot put. Despite a shaky performance chart in 2022, Manpreet managed to break the 18m barrier during a national meet in Chennai last year with a throw of 18.06m. Manpreet’s performance declined after the June 2022 Interstate Championships in Athletics and she failed to medal at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
The second AFI National Jumping Contest will also take place in Bellary on Thursday (March 2). The best jumpers, at least in the men’s triple jump, will be seen in action during the two-day competition.
Eldhose Paul, finalist at the 2022 World Championships in Athletics and Commonwealth Games champion in the triple jump, will lead a field of jumpers in the National Jumping Competition. Abdulla Aboobacker, Praveen Chithravel and Karthik Unnikrishnan are the other top triple jumpers in the race for a podium finish.
Olympic and national record holder in the men’s long jump, Murali Sreeshankar, will not participate in the National Jumping Competition. In Sreeshankar’s absence, Jeswin Aldrin and Muhammed Anees Yahiya will be the main attraction in the men’s long jump.