KHATMANDU, SEPT 25: Indian athletes would be hoping to repeat their strong performance in Madras where they won 21 gold medals. They were face stiff challenge from Sri Lanka, who have come a long way since Madras. The Indian men's sprint coach Harbans Singh expressed satisfaction with the preparations and said that the absence of 400m specialist Paramjit Singh would not affect the team's chances."We have two very good runners in Ramachandra and Lijo David. Even though Paramjit is not here, Rama and Lijo are going to fight it out for gold as Lankan Sugath Tillekaratne is not racing," he said. Tillekaratne is the Asian Games gold medallist. Lankan national coach Derwin Pareira later said that Tillekaratne will be arriving tomorrow and owing to injury will take part only in 4x400 relay.Among other Indians expected to have a cakewalk are Sunita Rani, who is participating in women's 1500m, 5,000m and 10,000m. In the men's Gulab Chand should have little trouble in pet event 5,000. He is also competing in 1500and 800.Indian throwers and jumpers should also dominate. Both Harbans Singh and hurdles coach Santosh Verghese said that India would be aiming for at least 22 gold medals in 36 events, 20 in men's and 16 in women's. The athletics competition starts with men's and women's marathon early tomorrow morning.The Indian swimmers are expected to add to their tally of 14 gold at Madras, with the women's races staging a comeback after eight years - the last time women participated in swimming was in 1991 at Colombo Games.Nisha Millet, who is participating in six events - 50, 100, 200, 400 freestyle and 100, 200 backstroke will be the star attraction. swimming coach Pradeep Kumar said that India were ``looking to win 27 out of 29 medals''.FOCUS ON FOOTBALL: While Indians should have it easy on the track or in the pool, tomorrow's football clash against bitter rivals Pakistan has generated a lot of interest. Their first clash in the sports arena after the war in Kargil, albeit at a neutral venue,promises a keen encounter.India will be missing stopper-back Prabhjot Singh, who was injured in the practice match against Delhi prior to the team's departure for Kathmandu. The coach said that doctors were attending to Prabhjot though it was not yet clear whether Prabhjot would take field tomorrow. Captain Jo Paul Ancheri would be the main striker, while Basudev Mondal and Hardeep Sangha are expected to start as play-makers, the coach hinted.
