20th National Fed Cup Junior U20 Athletics Championships to take place in Nadiad from 2-4 June.
Writer : M Sudharshan
A lot of young and exciting talent all across the country are set to take part at the Junior Championships. This Championships is a qualifying championships for World Athletics U20 Championships to be held at Cali, Colombia from 1-6 August 2022.
India had won 2 silver & a bronze medal at the last U20 championships held in Nairobi. Priya Mohan came close to grabbing the world championship bronze in 400m but could muster only a fourth place while running a personal best.
Amit Khatri [10k walk] & Shaili Singh [long jump] won the Silver Medal while the mixed 4*400 team won the bronze medal. The competition was dominated by Kenya who at their home ground won a total of sixteen medals which included eight Gold Medals.
India had send twenty eight competitors at the last championships including 17 boys & 11 girls. The boys took part in eleven events while girls competing in eight.
Priya Mohan & Shaili to compete in Nadiad
The star attraction of the Fed cup is expected to be around the two girls Priya & Shaili who are in the entry list of 400m & long jump respectively. The 200m boys has found the maximum entries standing at 64. Haryana is sending the biggest contingent with a total of 112 athletes set to take part. Uttar Pradesh has entered 91 closely followed by Maharashtra with 80 entries.
Lets look at few names who one should watch out for at this event.
Lalu Prasad Bhoi | Long Jump
He qualified for World U20 Athletics Championship with a jump of 7.58m at the IGP 4 which brought him the bronze medal competing with the likes of Muhammed Anees Yahiya. He has been performing consistently since last year jumping 7.04m a U20 record at that time at the state Athletic meet held in Odisha. If he can go a bit further India definitely has a chance to bag a podium at the U20 Worlds.
Sanmath Dharshan | Long Jump
In the recent 94 th TN State Senior Athletics Championships he leaped a distance of 7.65m to claim silver. The Qualifying mark is 7.55m for the U20 Worlds. This event did not have the wind reading which meant his score cannot be counted but nevertheless it was a good jump. If he continues the same at the U20 Fed Cup he can qualify along with Lalu Bhoi.
Rupal Chaudhary | 400m
Last year Rupal Chaudhary won the National Open 400m Championships with a timing of 53.73sec in U18. She clocked 55.37 sec in the National Junior Athletics Championship in 2019. Since then she has progressed steadily. At the U20 Fed Cup, she will be against Priya Mohan who had a good European tour.
Selva Prabhu | Triple Jump
A triple jumper recently won the silver with a jump of 16.11m at the 94 th TN State Senior Athletic Championships. The qualifying mark for U20 World is 15.55m which is way beyond. At the U17 National School Athletics meet he came 3 rd with a jump of 14.78m. Then the next year he won the RFYC Athletic meet. He has been improving since 2019 and now jumps beyond the 16m mark. Last year 16.05m fetched silver at the Worlds U20.
Vivek Kumar | Javelin Throw
Javelin Throw after Neeraj Chopra won Olympics gold has become a trademark event for India. Vivek Kumar of MP had won the 4 th Indian Open Throw Javelin competition in the U20 category with a throw of 68.67m just 0.33m shy of the qualifying mark for the U20 Worlds. Of the 6 throws, he threw three 68+ with good consistency. At the Fed Cup he would want to breach the 69m and qualify.
These are the Entry Standards of the Fed Cup & The World Championships in Cali
