Indian athletics team all set to shine in Korea

Over 2,000 athletes from 43 countries are taking part in the Asian Athletics Championship

Khel Today Bureau

Gumi, Korea: Gulveer Singh could make it a golden start for india on first day of Asian Athletics Championship which will held here from  May 27 to 31, 2025

Over 2,000 athletes from 43 countries are taking part in the event which is being held in Korea for the first time since the 2005 edition in Incheon.

The Indian athletics team sets out on a new international season with an aim to improve on the last edition’s 27 medals which included 6 gold 12 silver and 9 bronze.

The first day of the championships features 2 medal events 20 km walk and 10000 m for men and four medal events for women. There are no indian entries in the four women finals on first day. The first final event is the 20 km walk for men which will feature Servin Sebastian and Amit. Servin Sebastian with a best of 1 hour 21 minutes 46 second will find it difficult to finish on the podium as he faces as he faces world class japanese koki ikeda 1: 16.51 and chinas zhang jin 1: 16.51 among others. Servin however utilise the high quality competition to set a personal best.

Gulveer Singh.

Gulveer Singh features in the evening 10,000 m final and is the number one seed going into the event. Gulveer who has a best of 27 mins 02 will be up against Japan’s Jun kasai 27.17and suzuki 27.20. Gulveer would also be trying to qualify for the world championships by clocking 27 mins flat. In other qualifying events india has a chance to set up medals in the men’s decathlon through Tejaswin shankar in men’s triple jump with Praveen Chitravel and Abdullah Aboobacker and women’s 400 m with Rupal and Vithya Ramraj .

A flurry of national records in the recent past promises a great performance from the Indian athletics team in Korea. India’s star athlete neeraj Chopra is giving the championships a miss but sachin Yadav in his absence is expected to be on podium up against olympics champion arshad nadeem. The other national record came in the doha diamond league with parul chaudhary clocking 913 .10 second. Parul is expensive to win 2 medals in 3000 m steeplechase and 5000 m. In steeplechase Sheis up against olympics medallist Xavi representing bahrain and that may help her set a new national record too. Middle distance runners mohammad afsal recently set a national record in the UAE athletics gala clocking 1:46.61. The men’s 4 x 100 m team which set a national record recently will be involved in a tough battle with China and Japan for the medals . Indian women Jyothi Yarraji in 100 m hurdles Vithya Ramraj in 400 m hurdles Rupal in 400m and 4 x 400 women Twinkle Chaudhary in 800 m Shaili Singh and any sojan also favourite to win medals. Praveen Chitravrl with a recent 17.37 could win a gold too.