Neeraj Chopra for maiden javelin event in Lucknow
LUCKNOW: Gold medallist thrower at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, Neeraj Chopra and all other top throwers in different categories would be seen in action as the state capital would be hosting country’s first National Javelin Challenge just after the Asian Games in Jakarta/Palembang in September.
For Chopra, 20, who has also won gold at the World Junior Championships (2016), South Asian Games (2016) and Asian Championships (2017), this would be his maiden appearance in any event in the state capital along with 350 others, in one of the premier events of the Athletics Federation of India in view of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The event will be held on September 9. As many as 20 athletes will be shortlisted for the core group which will go to Finland for a long stint of training over the next two years. The government has already approved the tour of selected athletes.
Javelin Challenge is one of the six key events on the AAFI’s chart besides discus throw, 400m, 400m relay, long jump and mixed relay.
In all, events will be conducted in eight groups including men, women, under-20, under-18 and under-16.
“For sure, Neeraj would be here for the meet as this is a unique event in view of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and this is for the first time when AAFI has focused on specialised championships. We will try to make this event a memorable one,” UPAA’s secretary PK Srivastava said on Thursday.
STRICT WARNING!
In its annual general council meeting here, UPAA has decided to initiate tough action against its district units not participating in the National Inter-District Junior Athletics Meet.
Participation of all 54 districts of the UPAA in the Inter-District Championship has been made mandatory failing which the unit as well as the athletes would face a blanket ban.
“Out of 54 units, 12 are not sending teams to inter-district meet, and we didn’t do anything last time as it was beyond jurisdiction. But, now we have been authorised by the AAFI to impose ban on such units and athletes,” said Srivastava.
The 12 units which were not sending teams include Auraiyya, Badaun, Banda, Basti, Faizabad, Ghazipur, Hamirpur, Hardoi, Jhansi, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur and Moradabad.
Interestingly, UPAA is sending teams from Etah, Hapur, Sambhal, Mughalsarai and Kaushambi to the inter-district meet even though they aren’t affiliated to the UPAA. “We do support such units, who are conducting events on regular basis and sending teams to the nationals too,” said Srivastava.
The UPAA has also raised the competition entry fee for athletes for participation in the district and state championship from Rs 100 to Rs 300. For the district championships, the fee will be Rs 200.
The UPAA’s meeting has also decided to conduct six remaining events of its annual calendar. This includes 52nd state junior (under-20) championship on September 2-3 in Allahabad, followed by cross-country championship on September 9 at Mathura, 52nd state junior (under14/16) championship on September 11-12 at Lucknow, sub-junior championship on October 10-11 at Ballia, junior championship under the coordination on October 13-14 at Kanpur and cross-country championship under the coordination on November 4 at Kushinagar.