National record holders in shot put Tejinderpal Singh Toor and triple jumper Eldoj Paul along with Karanvir Singh will be the center of attraction at the second AFI (Athletics Federation of India) national ‘throw and jump’ competition, starting here on Wednesday. Toor and Karanvir had won gold and silver medals respectively at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Nur-Sultan earlier this month. Another exciting contest is expected between these two at the ‘Inspire Institute of Sports’ here. The event will also mark the start of the outdoor season of AFI.
With the World Athletics Championships and Asian Games in sight this year, the 28-year-old Toor will look to improve his performance. Apart from Toor and Karanveer, Inderjit Singh and Sahib Singh would also like to leave their mark in this competition. Manpreet Kaur is the only Indian to cross the 18m mark in women’s shot put. Apart from them, the performance of star shot putter Manju Bala will be watched.
Both were among the top Indian players in their respective events last year. In triple jump, the competition will be close with the presence of 16 Eldoz Paul, Abdullah Abubakar, Praveen Chitrawal and Karthik Unnikrishnan. Paul and Abubakar had won gold and silver medals at the Commonwealth Games last year. In the absence of M Sreesankar, Asian Indoor Championships silver medalist Jeswin Aldrin and Mohammad Anas Yahiya will battle it out for the men’s long jump title.
