Top Indian long-distance runners aim big at World 10K Bengaluru
World 10K Bengaluru
Reputed Indian long distance runners Avinash Sable, Abhishek Pal and G Lakshmanan will battle it out in the men’s category of the World 10K Bengaluru on Sunday. On the other hand, the female category will see Sanjivani Jadhav, Swati Gadhave and Parul Chaudhary competing for a medal.
Sunday morning will bring together India’s best long-distance runners as they will look to win the 12th edition of TCS World 10K Bengaluru. The Indian elite men’s field will see Avinash Sable, Abhishek Pal and Lakshmanan G and two debutants in Pradeep Singh Chaudhary and Ranjeet Kumar Patel. The winners will get INR 275,000, runner-up will take home 200,000 while third-placed runner will take INR 150,000.
The Indian women’s elite field will be headlined by course-record holder Sanjivani Jadhav who will face stiff competition from two-time TCS World 10K champion Swati Gadhave (2015 & 2016). Kiran Sahdev and Parul Chaudhary will further strengthen the field. At the 2018 Delhi Half Marathon, Jadhav finished on top with Chaudhary finishing 2nd behind her. Their rivalry goes back to 58th National Open Athletics Championships held in September 2018, where Jadhav again won a gold with Chaudhary in second place in the women’s 5000m event.
Steeplechase National Record Holder and course-record holder at the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K Sable will face some stiff competition from Winner of the Delhi Half Marathon 2018 Abhishek Pal, a product of the Elite Distance Running Program (EDRP) by Procam International along with SAI and Global Sports Communications.Â
“It’s a good field but I am not thinking about my competitors. I feel I am my own competition, that keeps me on my toes to improve further,” said Sable.Â
Pal, who had beaten Sable to top position at the Delhi Half Marathon, sounded confident ahead of the race day. “I will have my eyes on the course record, and if I can manage the niggle in my knee I surely will go after it,” said Pal of breaking the national course record of 29:49 set by Suresh Kumar in 2015.
Lakshmanan G who comes back to the event after two years was happy to be back. “I have trained for this and will look to break the course record if everything falls in place,” said Lakshmanan, who had won the 2016 edition.
Indian elite women’s course-record holder Jadhav though kept it simple. “There is no pressure and there was none even when I broke the record,” stated Jadhav.Â
“The field is pretty good but last time around, TCS World 10K was before Asian Championship and that kept me at the peak of my training and it’s the other way round this time so this change in schedule will also pose a huge challenge this time,” added Jadhav.Â
