Asian Grand Prix 2007 - PREVIEW

The Asian Grand Prix series has entered its sixth year. Like last year it is a three-leg circuit with the opener at the National Stadium here on Tuesday (19 June) and the last two legs in India, at Guwahati (23 June) and Pune (27 June).

Started in 2002 with a view to provide top-level competition to the Asian athletes, especially those who are unable to get into the more lucrative Golden League and Grand Prix meets, the Asian circuit has given opportunities to the "lesser lights", particularly from the host countries, to have a taste of a higher level of competition.

With the Asian Championships, now in search of an alternative venue since Beirut had to pull out because of the prevailing situation there, and the World Championships in Osaka round the corner, the athletes should be looking forward to fine-tuning their build-up through these three meets.

The weather might not be kind to them at this time of the year in Thailand and India, with rains and high humidity being the rule rather than the exception. Yet, with the heat wave abating in India, there could still be conditions good enough for some exciting athletics action.

The field, with more than 200 athletes in the fray, looks far better than the previous year, the presence of seven Asian Games champions giving the series the stature that it sorely needs. It could have been better, though.

Seventeen individual events, including eight in the women's section, plus all the relays will be featured in each of the three legs. The Indian legs will also have women's Long Jump in order to enable Anju Bobby George, the World championship bronze medallist in 2003, to post a good mark in her season-opener, though the event will be outside the prize money bracket.

The relays are of great importance to the teams since Beijing Olympics qualification will be based on the best two of timings achieved by teams in IAAF-designated events in 2007 and 2008. These Asian Grand Prix meets are designated events.

A look at the individual events:

Men:

100 metres: With none of the Chinese in the fray, not to speak of the Japanese or Saudi Arabians, Thais Sittichai Suwonprateep and Wachara Sondee look set to dominate the dash. Last year, Chinese Wen Yongyi had made a sweep of the three legs, with Indian record holder Anil Kumar and Sondee taking turns to come behind the winner. Kumar is preparing for the World Military Games to be held in Hyderabad in October this year and has decided to delay his season debut.

400 metres: Once again, the top man last year, Rohan Pradeep Kumara of Sri Lanka is missing and that should pave the way for his team-mate Prasanna Sampath Amarasekara to stake his claim for the top spot. Kuwaiti Fawzi Al-Shammari, who has a personal best of 44.93, is surely past his prime, and yet, with a fourth-place finish in 46.83 in the Arab championships in Amman last month, his chances cannot be dismissed. Indian K. M. Binu who has done precious little since the Athens Olympics, will be assessing himself after a spell of health complications last season.

1500 metres: The field looks very thin with Iranian Sajjad Moradi and Indian Chattoli Hamza being the only contenders among the chosen runners. Local metric milers will fill in the rest of the slots.

3000 metres:Indian Surender Singh, in tremendous form last season in the 5000 and 10,000 metres has the chance to show his mettle. But then he will perhaps have no one to challenge him bar his team-mate Sunil Kumar. The unfamiliarity with the distance and their lack of speed could put the Indians in some trouble against Sri Lankan steeplechaser Chaminda Indika Wijekoon.

400 metres Hurdles: Two-time World championship bronze medalist Dai Tamesue will be the man to beat. The Japanese, riding on a 46.90 win in the 400 metres flat at Shizuoka had grabbed the bronze in 48.73 in the Grand Prix at Osaka, the eighth fastest man in the event for the season till mid-June. Obviously, Chinese Meng Yan and Kazakh Yevgeniy Meleshenko have their task cut out. The Chinese won all the three legs last year, clocking a National record of 49.03 in Bangalore with Melshenko pushing him in all the three meets. Tamesue, of course, looks in a class of his own.

High Jump: Korean Kim Young-Min who had a personal best of 2.24m last year, Kazakh Sergey Sazimovich and Sri Lankan Manjula Wijesekara should be the main contenders for the top honours. Yet, Indian Hari Sankar Roy's current form, with a 2.21 at the Federation Cup in Kolkata in May, should inspire confidence among the home fans when the circuit moves to Guwahati at least. Roy had won two of the three legs last time and it is time he went beyond his best of 2.25 metres, set in Singapore in 2004. This is a field that could push him.

Triple Jump: Twenty-three-year-old Li Yanxi brings champion flavour to the series in the men's section this year. The Asian Games champion from China, who topped the continental lists last year with a 17.12 at Shijiazhuang, is coming with a season best 16.75 back home in May. His failure to figure among the top three during the World Championships trials should rankle, but he starts the hot favourite in this series. Team-mate Zhu Shujing, who also crossed 17 metres last year, should also be in contention. From among the rest, Kazakh Roman Valiyev and Indian Renjith Maheswary could be the men to watch out. Maheswary has a 16.72m this season.

Shot Put: The heavyweights are missing, leaving it an open affair for a mediocre field. Iranian Mehdi Shahrokhi who ended eighth in the Doha Asian Games has the best record (18.72m) among the principal six contenders, excluding local entries.

Discus Throw: With just four contestants in the main list the field is thin, but three of them are top-ranked men. The US-based Indian, Vikas Gowda, is competing for the first time in the continental series and with a 64.96 at Salinas, US, last month, his confidence level should be high. Chinese Wu Tao is an experienced customer who is yet to touch his best form this season, but the 2002 Asian Games champion should run Gowda close. And then there will be Iranian Abbas Samimi. Though of late he has been pushed to the background by countryman Ehsan Haddadi who won the Asian Games title and recently posted an Asian record of 67.95m at Minsk, Samimi is still a strong competitor, capable of going beyond the 61-metre mark. He had set three national marks while sweeping the titles in the Asian Grand Prix in 2004.

Women

100 metres: Asian Games champion Guzel Khubbieva and silver winner Susanthika Jayasinghe can resume their battle. Last time, Khubbieva had beaten the Sri Lankan in 200 metres in the opening leg at Bangkok and just when everyone was looking forward to keener battles, Jayasinghe withdrew from the last two meets because of an injury. The Uzbek went on to complete a hat-trick.

400 metres: Olga Tereshkova has the tough task of living up to her Asian Games champion status against the challenge of team-mate Tatyana Khadjimuratov, who is credited with a personal best of 51.03 and Uzbek Zamira Amirova. Indian Chitra K. Soman, who is expected to join the fray only in Guwahati and Pune, is tipped to run the former Soviets close in what could be one of the high points for the fans in the last two legs.

1500 metres: Chinese Huang Jing and Indian Sinimole Paulose should be the prime contenders with Kazakhs Viktoriya Yalovtseva and Svetlana Lukasheva capable of providing a fight. Paulose had pulled off an improbable bronze in the Doha Games and she will have to rise to the occasion, at least in front of home fans, to underscore her growing stature in continental athletics.

100 metres hurdles: The absence of the Chinese takes the charm away from the event, leaving Kazakhstan's Natalya Ivoninskaya and Anastasya Vinogradova as the favourites.

High Jump: Asian Games champion Marina Aitova of Kazkhstan and team-mate Anna Ustinova are familiar figures in the Asian Grand Prix circuit. Aitova had won the first two legs last year with Kyrgyzstan's Tatyana Effimenko taking the last. Effimenko has not made it this time.

Triple Jump: This should produce top-drawer stuff if the conditions are not going to be wet. The top four Asians in the 2006 lists, Asian Games champion Xie Limei of China, Anastasya Zhuravlyeva of Uzbekistan, Li Qian of China and Yelena Parfyonova of Kazakhstan should battle it out for the medals. All of them were above 14 metres last season with Xie Limei and Zhuravlyeva touching 14.54 metres.

Shot Put: Asian Games champion Li Ling is not expected to have any trouble in winning the title. The fight, if any, could be for the silver between Lee Mi-Young of Korea and Iolanta Ulyeva of Kazakhstan.

Javelin Throw: The surprise packet of the last Asian Games, Thai Buoban Phamang has the tough task of maintaining her reputation against Chinese Xue Juan and Zhang Li. Like in Shot Put, there are only four competitors in the fray with local athletes expected to bring up numbers.

By an IAAF Correspondent