Chennai

Fresh from his record-breaking spree, India’s Sharuk Khan will be one to watch during the three-day fourth South Asian Junior Athletics Championships starting Wednesday here at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

Sharuk Khan is among 62 strong Indian athletics team selected by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) for the competition.

Sharuk Khan, who hails from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh holds the national U20 3,000m steeplechase record (8:42.06). He plans to further improve his performance here in Chennai. “I’m healthy. I should be able to do my best,” the steeplechase runner said on the eve of the three-day competition.

Focus will also be on Pooja, national U20 record holder in women’s high jump. Her season and personal best of 1.83m, a national record, was recorded at the just concluded World Athletics U20 Championships held in Lima, Peru.

Anurag Singh Kaler, Siddharth Choudhary (shot put) and Ritik (discus throw), medal winners at the 2024 Asian U20 Championships held earlier this year in Dubai, are looking ahead to make a good impression in the South Asian Championships.

N Ramesh, chief junior national athletics coach is also expecting sprinters to dominate relay events. “Indian 4x100m women’s team had set a national U20 record (45.31 seconds) at the World U20. They should be able to continue their good work here in Chennai,” the chief junior national athletics coach added.

Majority of the members of the Indian team had competed in the World Athletics U20 Championships held in Peru. “The competition in Chennai will be good exposure for the promising athletes on the home ground,” N Ramesh said.

Sri Lanka is also fielding a strong 54-member team. Pakistan (I2), Bhutan (5), Nepal (9), Bangladesh (16) and Maldives (15) are other participating teams. All the team have arrived. The team members went for a warm up at the stadium today, N Ramesh added.