Jamshedpur, May 19: The fourth National Federation Cup (Junior) Athletics Championship begins at the JRD Tata Sports Complex tomorrow.
The two-day meet is being organised by Tata Steel under the aegis of Steel Plants Sports Board (SPSB) and AFI.
Junior athletes from across the country will participate in the meet.
Technical officials of the Athletic Federation of India (AFI), including outgoing chief coach of the Indian team Jogender Singh Saini, have already arrived in the steel city. The participants are also arriving.
Md Mudassir of Karnataka and Shilpi Dhali of West Bengal, who were declared the best athletes in the boy’s and girl’s category respectively, during the last Federation Cup in Chennai, will be among the star performers.
A. Arvind (Tamil Nadu, 100-m), Ashok Kumar (Delhi, 400-m), R. Rajiv (Kerala, 800-m), Pritam Vind (Uttar Pradesh, 1500-m and 5000-m), Ranjith M. (Kerala, triple jump), Harprit Singh (Delhi, discus), Gurkirat Singh (Punjab, javelin) Asha Rani (Maharashtra, 800-m and 1500-m) and Kavita Raut (Maharashtra, 3000-m and 5000-m) will be the other athletes to watch out for.
The meet is significant, as selection of the Indian team for the Junior Asian Championship, to be held in Malaysia from June 12 to 15, will be made from here.
The Indian team is likely to be announced by AFI secretary Lalit Kumar Bhanot on May 21, the concluding day of the meet.
Photo finish cameras are going to be installed for the track events. Besides, the participants will have to undergo dope tests.
State athletes are expected to put up a good show.
Sanjeev Kumar of Tata Steel, who won the 1500-m bronze in the last Federation Cup has worked hard to prepare for the meet and are expected to win medals. Ajay Kumar Nayak is also in the fray for notching the top slot.
Apart from Kumar and Nayak, the 21-member Jharhand squad include Lakhan Mardi, Lakhraj Prasad, Sujay Kumar Srivastava, Jayanta Bhagat, Anjani Kumar, Santosh Baboonga, Sridhar Pareja, Ganesh Chandra Mahato, Ajay Kumar, Anil Kumar, Ritesh Anand, N.K. Dubey, S.K. Singh, Kamaljeet Singh, Anmol Ratan Tete, Raju Sahoo, Rinku Singh, Madhoshi Devi and Sanjiv Kumar.
Keeping the rising mercury in mind, Tata Steel has adopted contingency measures to ward-off the scorching heat, which may affect the performance of the athletes.
Sources said, adequate arrangements have been made in the rooms of the eastern wing of the JRD Tata Sports Complex as well as the ground.
Air coolers, pedestal fans and khus curtains will be used, they said. Iced slabs, lemon, glucose, lassi, etc will be supplied regularly, they added.
Chief Tata Steel sports department Satish Pillai said they would try to make the participants comfortable despite the high temperature.
“We will take all measures for the comfort and safety of the participants,” said Pillai.
The events have also been timed accordingly to avoid the blazing heat.
While the track events will be conducted in early morning and late afternoon, the throw and jump events will be held in between these slots.
