Fawzi Al-Shammari (KUW) (© Getty Images)
An Asian Games year is of prime importance to the Asian athletes no matter that there is no global meet round the corner. With the focus firmly on the Doha Asian Games, set for December, some of Asia’s top athletes would be assessing their current form during the three-leg annual Asian Grand Prix circuit, the first meet of which will be held here in Bangkok on Thursday, 18 May.
This is the fifth year of the circuit and India, after having declined to host a meet the past two seasons, has taken over the task of hosting two of the legs this time, one in the Bangalore on 22 May and the other at Pune on 26 May, where the Baburao Sanas stadium with a newly-laid synthetic track will be the venue.
The presence of a bunch of Asian champions, led by Chinese discus thrower Song Aimin, should forge the competitive headlines, though the prize fund this year has been reduced, with winners getting 1500 dollars, second securing 800 dollars and third place 500 dollars.
There will be 17 events in all, including eight in the women’s section. Women’s Pole Vault was initially included as one of the events but the Asian Athletic Association received very little response and it was subsequently dropped and the High Jump brought in instead.
Men’s events
The field for the 100 metres looks a little famished in the absence of the Japanese, Saudi Arabians and the top Chinese.
Thai Wachara Sondee, who finished fifth in Incheon, Korea at the Asian championships last September, should be the other man to watch. Kazakhstan’s Vitaliy Medvedev, can also pose a challenge while Oman’s Juma Mubarak Al-Jabri will have to live up to his rating as a sprinter with a 10.34 personal best.
The men’s 400m field looks far better than the 100m in that we have the Busan Asian Games champion Fawzi Al-Shammari of Kuwait back in business and possibly keener than ever before to re-establish his credentials after a disappointing Asian championships last season.
Then we have the 400m silver and bronze winners from Incheon, Sri Lankans Prasanna Amarasekhara and Rohan Pradeep Kumara, both splendid one-lap runners who might have been fancied better than the Japanese Yuzo Kanemaru at Incheon in the pre-meet assessment.
Sajad Moradi of Iran should be the man to beat in the men’s 800 metres which does not have many other top-notch athletes in contention. The Iranian who grabbed the bronze at Incheon, has a best of 1:44.74 and should only be worried about the challenge from countryman Ehsan Mohajershojaei, a 1:46.46 two-lapper. Kuwait’s Mohamed M. Al-Azimi could be another contender in a modest field in which the top six Asians in last year’s lists would be missing.The late withdrawal of Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kolaganov and the absence of Indian Ghamanda Ram, through a bout of hepatitis, have made matters easier for the Iranians and the Kuwaiti in the 800 metres.
There is nothing much to talk about the men’s 3000 metres since the field is too depleted to merit mention. But the 400m Hurdles does have a star competitor in the shape of Yevgeniy Melshenko of Kazakhstan. Melshenko took the silver at the last Asians and should be hoping to sweep the series.
Melshenko can expect a reasonable fight from Chinese Meng Yan (PB 49.19) while Indians Joseph Abraham and Gurpreet Singh, both 50-second-plus hurdlers, would be keen to put their best foot forward, given the fact that the event is rarely considered a priority in the Indian context.
Young Indian high jumper Hari Shankar Roy, troubled by back problems for more than a year, had made a quiet comeback this season. His best for the season, of 2.15m, might not mean much, but having cleared 2.25 metres in the All-Stars meet in Singapore in 2004, he has the credentials to test the best in Asia.
Vietnamese Nguyen Duy Bang, fourth-placed jumper at Incheon with 2.19, also has a personal best of 2.25m and there could be a hard-fought duel with the Indian with Lebanese Jean Claude Rabath (PB 2.20m), an experienced customer, capable of pulling off an upset. Chinese Xu Xin (PB 2.20) should also be hoping to get among the medals.
It was through the Asian Grand Prix circuit last season that India’s long jumper Mahan Singh proclaimed his calibre with leaps of 7.89m (Sidoarjo) and 7.99 (Singapore). Mahan Singh will once again lead the Indian challenge with National record holder Amritpal Singh also set to re-establish himself after an injury-plagued season in 2005.
The 22-year-old Kazakh Roman Valiyev, with a personal best of 7.90m, Filipino Henry Dagmil, who was one of the medallists last year, and Chinese Li Xin should make the Long Jump competition a keen one.
Chinese Zhang Qi, who posted a national Shot Put record of 20.15 metres at Nanjing last October, looks to be the man capable of challenging Indian Navpreet Singh, the Asian silver medal winner. Navpreet had a best of 19.82m last year and he placed ahead of Zhang Qi at Incheon, 19.40 to 19.02. Kuwaiti Ahmad Gholoum should fight for the minor medals with lesser-ranked Indians and Thais.
Uzbeks Sergey Vyonov and Rinat Tarzumanov along with Chinese Liu Yanhong head the entries list for men’s javelin, with Indian Jagdish Bishnoi also one of the contenders, especially in home conditions. The man to be missed will be the redoubtable Chinese, Li Rongxiang, a regular at Asian GP who swept the titles last year before claiming the Asian championship gold as well.
Women’s events
The return of Susanthika Jayasinghe will be eagerly watched in the 200 metres. The star Sri Lankan sprinter who has not been heard for nearly two years, is back in action this season. She had continued training in the US under Tony Campbell after having missed the Athens Olympics and the Helsinki World championships and looks ready to take on the best.
Jayasinghe had won a few races in the US this season and though initially the AAA had not chosen her, with Damayanthi Darsha pulling out due to an injury, the Sri Lankan AA could make out a case for Jayasinghe’s inclusion and that has been accepted. Her presence should add to the glamour of the circuit, especially for the Indian fans. Uzbek Guzel Khubbieva should be the main challenger for Jayasinghe.
Indian Manjeet Kaur looks the firm favourite for the 400 metres, while Kyrgyzstan’s Tatiana Borisova will have to contend with Chinese Huang Xiaofang and Indian S. Shanthi in the 800 metres.
Chinese Feng Yun, the 2002 Asian Games champion, towers over the rest of the field in the 100-metre Hurdles and should sweep the three legs.}
The clear favourite in High Jump should be Kyrgyzstan’s Tatiana Efimenko. The 25-year-old Asian and Asian Games champion could be expected to dominate a field in which Vietnamese Bui Thi Nhung looks the only jumper capable of spoiling her streak. Chinese Gu Biwei could be the dark horse.
In the normal course, Anju George could have been expected to be the No. 1 contender for the Long Jump gold. But the Indian, ranked No. 4 in the world, hasn’t had a rewarding experience this season and in the run-up was handicapped by a heel injury that resulted in a below-par performance in the Doha Super Grand Prix (6.43m) and forced her to skip the opening leg in Bangkok.
Anju is expected to be fit for the Bangalore and Pune legs. In her absence in Bangkok, Filipino Marestella Torres could be aiming for the gold, with Chinese Liu Huahua, Kazakhs Olga Rypakova and Olessa Belyayeva being the minor players.
Singapore’s Zhang Guirong should battle it out with her team-mate Du Xianhui, her erstwhile countrywoman Jiang Ping of China and Kazakh Iolanta Ulyeva in the Shot Put competition.
If there should be an overwhelming favourite in this year’s circuit, it should be Chinese Song Aimin. The 28-year-old Chinese discus thrower won two of the legs last year, but was surprisingly beaten by Indian Harwant Kaur in Singapore. She had the satisfaction of being the only world top-10 performer at that time with her 65.23m throw at Sidoarjo, Indonesia, and won a special prize of 15,000 dollars for her feat.
Harwant Kaur is not competing this time and there is a question mark over the top Indian, Seema Antil as well. Antil would be giving a miss to Bangkok and might be available for Bangalore and Pune. With the top two Indians out, the task of challenging Song Aimin will rest on Krishna Poonia, bronze medallist at the last Asian championships.
by an IAAF Correspondent
