Poovamma charged up for Worlds

Gaurav Kanthwal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 17

With less than a week left for the World Athletics Championships in Beijing (August 22 to 30), India’s ace quartermilers MR Poovamma, Tintu Luka, Anu Raghavan, Debashree Majumdar, Jishna Mathew and Priyanka Panwar are gearing up for the 4x400m event.

Poovamma, Tintu, Anu and Debashree are likely to be the first choices for the event. Sources said newly appointed coach Yuri Ogrodonik had made it clear before taking up the job of the relay team’s coach that he will not be taking the responsibility of the team’s performance in the big event, owing to the shortage of time spent with the athletes.

India, the defending Asian champion and Asian record holding team, will be competing against 17 countries in the event.

Poovamma, recently awarded with the Arjuna Award, said, “It is a big boost ahead of the competition. Awards motivate a player to work more hard. Ever since I started running, it was a dream for me to win the Arjuna Award. This is a first step to achieve more glory. My next aim is the Rio Olympics.” The 25-year-old Mangalorean said though she is preparing for the World Championships, her immediate aim is to qualify for the Rio Olympics in the 400m individual event. “I am hoping to qualify for Rio and for this I have my eyes set on the Open Nationals,” she said. The heats for that event are scheduled on August 29 and the finals are on August 30.

Meanwhile, Ranchi, the state capital of Jharkhand, is bidding to host the 22nd edition of the Asian Athletics Championships in 2017.