Focus on sprinters at National Open Athletics C'ships beginning Saturday in Ranchi

Ranchi, Sep 26 (PTI) The focus will be on the sprinters at the 64th National Open Athletics Championships starting here Saturday, as the national federation will pick the probables for the 4x100m relay squad for the 2026 Asian Games based on the performances of the four-day meet.

Odisha sprinter Animesh Kujur, the national record holder in both the 100m and 200m, will, however, skip the meet as he took part in the recent World Championships in Tokyo.

"Probables in 100m in men and women group will be shortlisted for the national 4x100m relay squad in preparation for the 2026 Asian Games," said chief national athletics coach Radhakrishnan Nair.

In addition to the top six to be picked during the championships, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) will add two more athletes in the 4x100m relay group based on the overall performance in 2025, said Nair.

"Top sprinters will be under one umbrella to prepare for the 2026 Asian Games," Nair said.

"The men's team will be based in Mumbai while the women’s team will be in Trivandrum." The Asian Games will be held from September 19 to October 14 in Japan.

Meanwhile, 40 athletes have registered for the men's 100m event. Tamil Nadu's Ragul Kumar G, Army's former national record holder Manikanta Hoblidhar and Amlan Borgohain, representing Railways, are among prominent sprinters who will be seen in action.

The preliminary round is scheduled for the opening day on Saturday.

The day will start with the medal round in the men and women's 5,000m. Unseasonal rain on Friday has dipped the local temperature. The local weather conditions at this time of the year will be helpful for the distance athletes.

Pole vault (men), discus throw (women) and triple jump (women) are the other finals scheduled for Saturday.

The AFI has also made it mandatory for all the state units to compete in approved sports kits during the meet. Athletes have also been advised to have proper sports kits during medal ceremonies.

More than 700 athletes will compete in the domestic track and field competition. PTI PDS PDS AH AH