Members of the Tiwa tribe rehearse for the opening ceremony of the Asian Athletics Grand Prix on Friday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, June 22: Former world champion and long jump hot favourite Anju Bobby George stands a fair chance of picking up medals in the second leg of the sixth Asian Athletics Grand Prix series, to be held here tomorrow.

She has only one opponent from Pakistan — Saira Fazal. Compatriot minnows M. Priya Devi and Dipali Deori are her other competitors. So, even if Anju does not enjoy an enviable ranking, she ought to find the going easy at the Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium here tomorrow. A non-regular Grand Prix event, long jump was introduced at the last moment in the current edition of the Asian meet on her request.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI), which will host two legs of the event, has decided to give her an opportunity to be in the reckoning for the Asian Athletics Championship, to be held shortly. This was announced by AFI secretary-general Lalit Bhanot at a news conference here this evening. The third leg will be held in Pune on June 27.

Women’s long jump and relays (4x100 metres and 4x400 metres for both men and women), being non-regular events, will not carry any prize money, Bhanot added.

“There will be prize money for the 17 regular Grand Prix events. The purses will be worth $1,500 for gold medallists, $1,000 for silver and $500 for bronze. A total prize money of $150,000 is up for grabs in the series,” he disclosed.

Asked about his expectations from the 58-member national contingent, Bhanot expected discus thrower Vikash Gowda to be among medals. “The series will serve more as a build-up for our athletes for the Asian Athletics Championship,” he added.

The other Indians in contention for medals include runner K.M. Binu, relayists Manjit Kaur and Chitra K. Suman and triple jumper Renjith Maheshwari, Bhanot added. Altogether eight athletes from Assam will also vie for honours in the mega event. They include Pranjal Gogoi, Sanjit Luwang, Dipti Chutia, S.K. Nisar Alam, Dipali Deori, M. Priya Devi, Anuj Bora and Ranjan Sarma.

The events will get under way at 5 pm and continue till 9 pm. The actual sports events would be preceded by the assembly of guests and their felicitation.

Chief minister Tarun Gogoi will inaugurate the meet. Altogether 216 athletes from across Asia will participate in the daylong event.