Top Indian athletes to jostle for CWG berths during Inter-State Athletics C'ships

Olympic Champion Neeraj Chopra will not be there and the 3000m steeplechase 'record man' Avinash Sable is also unlikely to compete though his name figures in the list of participants. Sources close to Sable would skip the five-day event. The Maharashtra unit, his home state, was also unable to confirm whether he will fly down to India from his training base at Colorado Springs in USA or not.

Sable on Sunday had finished a creditable fifth with a time of 8:12.48, breaking his own national record for the eighth time during the Diamond League Meeting in Morocco. The Sports Ministry had recently sanctioned the extension of his training stint there till July 24. Besides being the last major event before the AFI picks the squad for the July 28 to August 8 CWG in Birmingham, athletes can also make a last-ditch effort to touch the qualifying standards for the July 15-24 World Championships in Eugene, USA.

More than 600 athletes from 23 states and Union Territories will vie for top honours. Sri Lanka has also sent an 11-member team. Except for Chopra and possibly Sable and those recuperating from injuries, the cream of Indian athletics will be there.

The likes of seasoned campaigners Hima Das, Dutee Chand, Seema Punia, Annu Rani, Jyothi Yarraji among women and M Sreeshankar, Tajinderpal Singh Toor and Muhammed Anas Yahiya from among men are all taking part in the event. Chopra, who had become the first Indian track and field athlete to win an Olympic gold, is currently training in Europe and has a big-ticket contest on June 14 in Finland where he will be up against some of the best in the world. Jyothi Yarraji likely to aim for sub 13 sec in 100m hurdlesAndhra athlete Jyothi broke the 100m hurdles national record three times last