Star-less GP could boost India’s gold rush

The presence of sprint queen Susanthika Jayasinghe has lifted the otherwise depleted field of the second Asian Grand Prix Athletic Meet to b...

The presence of sprint queen Susanthika Jayasinghe has lifted the otherwise depleted field of the second Asian Grand Prix Athletic Meet to be held at the GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium at Gachibowli on Wednesday. The Sri Lankan superstar along with Damayanthi Darsha will be the star attraction of the meet.

The SARS-affected China, the athletic powerhouse of Asia which bagged 14 gold in Busan Asian Games, would be unrepresented for obvious reasons. If this was to be the biggest blow, Japan also pulled out throwing the meet in a disarray. In fact, most of the Asian Games winners will be absent in the meet. Hosts India would not have Anju George, now training in the US, KM Beenamol (injury) and Saraswati Saha. Anil Kumar, the discus thrower, will be a welcome relief for the Indian camp.

But, in the depleted field, it could still be India’s show in the 14 events scheduled for the day. However, one coach cautioned: ‘‘Since Hyderabad leg is season’s opening meet one should not expect high performances, particularly in the hot conditions. It would only help the athletes to peak and gear up for the season ahead.’’ Even Susanthika said she would not go flat out in her 100 metres event.

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‘‘It is a sort of training for me and since it is the season opener, it would be a sort of test for me,’’ said the Lankan superstar, who would be the favourite to win the $3,000 first prize with competition coming from Uzbekistan’s Lyubo Peropelova, the silver medallist in Busan Asian Games. Damayanthi Darsha should be a clear winner in 400 metres in the absence of India’s Beenamol.

Darsha had beaten Beenamol in Busan but the latter was India’s star athlete in that games with and outstanding 800m reace. Beenamol has withdrawn because of an ankle injury her absence will give a chance to Madhuri Singh, the silver medallist in Busan, to dominate the 800m event which also has Tatyana Borisova of Kyrgyzstan and Zanura Amirova of Uzbekistan.

The women’s list is more impressive than men’s. The 400 metres event has Sri Lankan stars Rohan Pradeep and Sugath Thilakarathne. But India have two good runners in Bhupinder Singh and Satbir Singh, who were the members of the 4×400 relay squad which won the gold in Busan.

There will be prize money for the all events except the two relay events. However, the relays will be qualifying events for the Olympics.