Tehran (Iran) – 16 FEB 2024:
Aftab Enghelab Sports Complex, where the inaugural Asian Indoor Athletics Championships was held twenty years ago, once again dressed up to host the big ticket event as the 11th edition of the championships will be taking place from 17th to 19th February here.
Tehran playing host to the above competition for the fourth time since 2004. The fourth (2010) and eighth (2018) editions of the championships were also conducted in the same venue. The 2020 edition of the biennial championships, originally scheduled in Hangzhou city of China, has since been canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2023, the above championships were successfully organised in Astana after a hiatus of five years where Japan topped the medal tally followed by hosts Kazakhstan.
CHINA FIELDS TOP ATHLETES IN TEHRAN:
Pole vaulter Li Ling, the multiple Asian champion, heads the Chinese athletics squad to Tehran. Holding the Asian Records in both indoor (4.70m) and outdoors (4.72m), the 34-year-old vaulter is expected to open her 2024 season here this weekend. She was the Asian indoor champion in her favourite event in 2012 and 2016. She is also the reigning Asian Champion (Bangkok) and Asian Games gold medalist (Hangzhou) from last year.
Shot putters, the 2018 World Junior Championships silver medalist Zhang Linru and 2017 World Youth Championships bronze medalist Sun Yue besides two-time World Championships finalist triple jumper Wu Ruiting are among the other notable athletes entered by China.
JAPANESE BET ON THEIR DISTANCE RUNNERS:
Yuma Yamamoto, the reigning Asian 5000m champion, who finished third in 3000m in Astana, together with teammate Ririka Hironaka (who was fourth at Astana) will lead the Japanese challenge in Tehran. Ririka won two silver medals through distance running in last year’s Asian Games.
Triple jumper Mariko Morimoto, the Asian outdoor champion, will log horns again with the defending indoor champion Sharifa Davronova from Uzbekistan for a podium finish. In the absence of defending champion Masumi Aoki in the 60m hurdles, Asuka Terada will face India’s Jyothi Yarraji (the Astana silver medalist behind Aoki) in Tehran. Incidentally, Jyothi improved her national record to an incredible 8.04 secs during a ‘test competition’ on India’s first-ever indoor track in Bhubaneswar. On favourable conditions, Jyothi may dip under 8 seconds in Tehran.
Japanese sprinter Shuhei Tada, the silver medalist in the 60m dash in the recently concluded Astana indoor meet for Amin Tuyakov Prizes — a World Indoor Tour Gold season opener — is expected to challenge Qatari duo of Femi Seun Ogunode and Tosin Joseph Ogunode as well as local favourite Hassan Taftian. The five-member Bangladesh team includes their defending Asian indoor champion Imranur Rehaman in this event. Oman’s Ali Al-Balushi will be the other strong contender for a podium finish in Tehran.
Farzaneh Fasihi, the reigning women’s 60m champion and high jumper Keyvan Ghanbarzadeh are the top names among the 70-strong team from the host Islamic Republic of Iran.
KEEN CONTEST EXPECTED IN SHOT PUT:
Tajinderpal Singh Toor, the reigning Asian champion in both indoor and outdoor, holding the Asian Record (21.77m) in the shot put, will have stiff competition from Saudi Arabia’s Mohamed Daouda Tolo. The 22-year-old Tolo heaved the iron ball to 20.11m indoors at the beginning of this month in Miramas, France besides holding an outdoor PB of 20.49m since 2022.
Reigning champion David Yefremov from Kazakhstan will have to fight it out in 60m hurdles with Yaqoub Al-Yoha (Kuwait) and John Cabang (Phillippines) to retain the top spot.
As many as eight defending champions from last year’s championships in Astana have been entered in Tehran as per the provisional list of entries consisting of 324 athletes from 29 countries and territories. The list includes defending champions Ryoichi Akamatsu (high jump) and Yuma Maruyama (heptathlon) from Japan, Ibrahim Renoud Al-Zafairi (800m) from Kuwait, Hussain Asim Al-Hizam (Pole Vault) from Saudi Arabia besides Rahman, Yefremov, Toor and Faishi.
Ram. Murali Krishnan for Asian Athletics
Photo 1: https://images.app.goo.gl/2kNFwbChYKDQ3KAi7
Photo 2: https://images.app.goo.gl/RW6tTF6g3N8HkN1T6
Photo 3: https://images.app.goo.gl/vUeGfQPt75dwvyPp8
