Anju Bobby George displays the silver medal she won at the Doha Asian Games. (PTI)

Guwahati, June 11: It might be yet another opportunity for Guwahati sports buffs to witness former world champion long jumper Anju Bobby George in action, whom the city missed during the 33rd National Games early this year.

The Asian Athletics Association has announced the inclusion of women’s long jump in the Asian Grand Prix athletics meet to be held here on June 23.

A source in the organising committee said the decision to include the women’s long jump was intimated to the Athletics Federation of India on Saturday. The inclusion of the discipline has made it a 22-event meet, which will start at 3 pm and end by 8 pm.

Although not in the most enviable rankings in the global arena, Anju is yet to confirm her participation. Anju had finished sixth at the last Olympics in Athens.

This will be the first international event to be held in the infrastructure created for the National Games.

The mega event, involving over 200 athletes from 20 Asian countries, including China, Korea and Uzbekistan, will be held at the Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium here.

Other attractions for city fans will be Assam National Games medallists javelin thrower Paragjyoti Baishya and sprinter Jagadish Basak if the Assam Athletic Association succeeds in convincing the federation for their inclusion in the 50-member Indian contingent.

Joint secretary of the federation T.K. Srivastava had recently hinted that home state athletes would be given preference in the squad even by relaxing the selection criteria to some extent.

The state government has taken a special initiative in extending maximum support towards organising the event smoothly. Chief minister Tarun Gogoi had last week discussed with the civil aviation ministry about the possibility of flying in the athletes directly from Bangkok, where the first leg of the Asian Grand Prix will be held on June 19. As of now, the athletes will fly to Guwahati via Delhi.

Gogoi has directed the authorities to ensure foolproof security for the participants and also the best possible transportation and accommodation facilities.