Indian Athletes Hoping For An Improved Show In Asian Games

SOUTH KOREA : After a below-par show in the Commonwealth Games at Glasgow, Indian athletes would look to regain the lost pride in the track and field events in the Asian Games starting.

Athletics had contributed 12 medals in the previous edition of the Asian Games but matching that performance seems to be highly unlikely this time as the build-ups have been marred by curtailing of the squad and late clearance from both the ministry and the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) which is a big distraction for the 56-member athletics squad.

In these circumstances, the athletes not only need to put aside the distractions but also need to raise their bar.

India's biggest hope would be discus thrower Vikash Gowda. The Karnataka-born athlete will be high on confidence after winning the gold in Glasgow. Gowda had won bronze medal at the 2010 Asiad where he had lost to Iran's Ehsan Hadaddi and Mohammad Hamimi. The Iranian duo will give a tough time to Gowda, who also needs to handle the pressure of expectations.

Women discus thrower Seema Punia could also be contention as she has proved her mettle in the Commonwealth Games, where she had claimed silver medal.

However, it looks tough for shot putter Om Prakash Karhana, who injured himself just before the retrial and the AFI is now awaiting his medical report.

In the track events, long-distance runners, Preeja Sreedharan and Sudha Singh are the strong contenders for gold. Preeja, who won the gold medal in the 10000m race and silver in the 5,000m in the 2010 Asian Games, said her focus for the last six months has been the Asian Games.

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