BANNIHATTI (Karnataka): National record-holder shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor and Karanveer Singh and triple jumper Eldhose Paul will be the star attractions in the second AFI National Throws Competition, beginning here from Wednesday.
Toor and Karanveer claimed the gold and silver medals, respectively, in the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Nur-Sultan earlier this month, and will fancy their chances of winning at the Inspire Institute of Sports.
The tournament will mark the beginning of the outdoor season, which includes the World Athletics Championships and the Asian Games, and the 28-year-old Toor will be hoping to hit peak form before heading to these marquee events.
Toor leads the all-time Indian shot put list with 21.49m, which he set in Patiala in June 2021, while Karanveer will want to rise from the eighth spot, which he achieved with 20.10m in Bengaluru last year.
Indrajeet Singh and Sahib Singh will want to ensure that the shot put competition does not turn out to be a two-horse race.
Manpreet Kaur, the only Indian to breach the 18m mark in women's shot put, and Manju Bala in hammer throw, are among athletes whose performances will be watched with interest. Both topped the Indian lists in their respective events last year and will want to continue their domination.
The field in triple jump promises to make it the most hotly-contested of the 16 events.
With Eldhose Paul, Abdulla Aboobacker, Praveen Chithravel and Karthik Unnikrishnan in the fray, the triple jump competition is likely to be a cracker of a contest, setting the tone for the rest of the season.
Paul and Aboobacker won gold and silver at the Commonwealth Games last year.
In M Sreeshankar's absence, Asian Indoor Championships silver medallist Jeswin Aldrin and Muhammed Anees Yahiya will battle it out for men's long jump honours.
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