While the presence of several elite international athletes\u00a0is set to make the $75,000 World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meet exciting at the sparkling Kalinga Stadium here on Saturday, the absence of some Indian stars will take some gloss off\u00a0it.<\/p>\n
The field will consist of top-ranked international names, including Nigeria\u2019s Commonwealth Games shot put champion Chukwuebuka Enekwechi and Jamaica\u2019s CWG discus gold medallist Samantha Hall.<\/p>\n
Reputed Indians \u2013 such as CWG silver medallist long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, bronze medallist javelin thrower Yashvir Singh, shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor, hurdler Jyothi Yarraji, javelin thrower Annu Rani, discus thrower Seema Kaliraman, National record holder long jumper Ancy Sojan and quartermiler Vithya Ramraj \u2013 will be some of the main attraction among 88 Indians in a field of 187 from 26 countries.<\/p>\n
Several big Indian athletes, including Worlds and Olympics medallist Neeraj Chopra, double CWG medallist Gulveer Singh, Sarvesh Kushare, Parul Chaudhary, Avinash Sable, Ankita Dhyani and National record holder Vishal T.K., will miss the event due to different reasons.<\/p>\n
The one-day meet, upgraded from Bronze Level and rewarding top six finishers, including $1600 to the winners of 18 events, will be a good exposure for some Asian Games bound Indian athletes.<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s javelin will have seven throwers who have 80m-plus season\u2019s best. In long jump, six have registered eight metres plus performances, while seven have recorded marks exceeding 20m in shot put. The presence of multiple Indians will make these events interesting for the home fans.<\/p>\n
Five long jumpers with more than 6.40m marks, seven discus throwers have 55m-plus throws should make these women\u2019s events gripping.<\/p>\n
After the Silver meet, the Indians will take part in the Indian Athletics Series Final in Delhi on September 10 prior to the Asian Games in Japan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n