Indian athletics calendar gets going with inaugural throws competition in Patiala

As many as 67 athletes, including 29 women, will compete in the inaugural Indian Open Throws Competition at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports on Sunday, kickstarting the athletics calendar at the national level for the year. It will be the the first event since the National Open Javelin Throw Championships on October 23.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has launched the throws competition and the jumps competition (March 1, Thiruvananthapuram) this year to offer the athletes an additional event to prepare for three major international meets that follow this season -- Commonwealth Games, World Championships and Asian Games. Besides, as many as 19 teenaged competitors will use the event to qualify for and continue their preparations for the World Athletics U-20 Championships, to be held at Santiago de Cali in Colombia in August.

On Sunday, the men's shot put competition is due to feature Asian Games champion Tajinderpal Singh Toor, who returns after a wrist surgery performed last September. The event also features Karanveer Singh, who was the only other athlete to touch the 20m mark last year. There are two other entrants from the 20m club -- Om Prakash Singh Karhana and Saurabj Vij.

The javelin throw features 22-year-old Sahil Silwal as the only one in the entry list with a personal best over 80m. Abhishek Singh, whose best throw last year was 79.63m, can spice up the contest. Rohit Yadav, Abhishek Drall and Arshdeep Singh will also be keen to ramp up their performance and secure entry into the 80m club this season.

In the women's events, the spotlight will be on the vastly experienced Seema Antil and Sarita R Singh. The senior-most female athlete in the competition, Seema Antil finished among the select band of four Asian women discus throwers who broke the 60m barrier in 2021. Sarita Singh owns six of the top 10 hammer throws by any Indian woman.

In the absence of her younger namesake, who had 17.07m effort to be in Asia's top 10 list for women's shot put last year and Kiran Baliyan, who managed 16.99m in the National Open Championships, seasoned campaigner Manpreet Kaur will look to regain the pride of place at the top of the podium.