NAGPUR: The current heatwave across the region could well be a blessing for Nagpur athletes during the 72nd Maharashtra State Senior Athletics Championship, which begins at the Nagpur University track at Ravi Nagar from Saturday.
Aware of the home conditions and considering the recent performance of Nagpur athletes, the 67-member home team will aim to improve their last years’ record, aiming to pocket 7-8 medals. Last year in Pune, the Nagpur athletes were able to win just three medals. Of the 124 medals on offer, with 16 international and 41 national participants in fray, Nagpur athletes stand a chance to better their record in the Senior State meet being held at home after a gap of 45 years.
City’s Rajan Yadav in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and Nagpur’s 4x400m relay women’s team won the bronze medals while Prajakta Godbole clinched a silver medal in the 10,000m race last year.
While Nagpur women team skipper Prajakta Godbole will look forward to change the colour of her medal, she will face a tough challenge from Nashik’s Sanjivani Jadhav, who won a medal each in the Asian Athletic Championship in the 5,000 and 10,000m races.
With Satara's Reshma Kevat has not confirmed her participation, Sanjivani and Prajakta will fight for the gold medal in the 10,000m race. In the recently held Federation Cup, Prajakta had clinched the bronze medal.
Similarly, the home team can expect a medal from Neha Dhabale, who won a bronze and silver medal in the 400m hurdles in the National Junior U-23 Championship and Khelo India Games. For Neha to win a medal for Nagpur, she needs to get the better of Kolhapur’s Shweta Chikodi and Leena Kohole, Isha Negi from Mumbai Suburban and Shravani Sangle of Nashik.
The 4x400m women’s relay team too can win a gold medal but the coach and manager of Nagpur district need to make some calculations before picking up the best and fresh four runners. Since the 4x400 relay final is slated to be held on June 3 morning and just an hour after the women’s 800m race, the selection of players running in both events will be crucial for Nagpur coach.
The Nagpur men’s team skipper and Khelo India University Games’ 100m medallist Adarsh Bhure, who won a medal each in the 100 and 200m races at the recently held Inter-University games, is expected to have a podium finish. He will need to beat the challenge of World University Games participant Pranav Gurav of Pune.
Shadab Pathan, Rajan Yadav, and Saurav Tiwari too are expected to clinch medals in their respective races.
The medal favourite event for Nagpur will be the steeple chase, which is scheduled on June 3 in the morning session. Of the nine women participants, three Nagpur runners; Riya Dohatare, Anjali Madavi and Trupti Patel, stand a chance to get a podium finish.
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