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GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated the 36th National Junior Athletics Championship today at the Sarusajai Stadium in Guwahati.
The Chief Minister took to Twitter to announce the inauguration. He said that the National Championship being organised in Assam will go on to solidify the state's goal to make Guwahati the sports capital of India. He wrote, "In past couple of years, we have developed an environment conducive for sports in Assam. 36th National Junior Athletics Championship 2020-21, organised by Assam Athletics Association, is another step towards realising the dream of making Guwahati the Sports Capital of our Nation."
The 36th National junior athletics championships is for athletes under-14, 16, 18 and under-20 boys and girls. It starts from February 6 and will continue till February 10.
The 5-days event will be held under the aegis of Assam Athletics Association in association with State Bank of India.
As many as 1,637 boys and girls are set to compete at the 36th National Junior Athletics Championships, making it the country's single largest sports event since the outbreak of Covid-19 early last year.
The 36th National Junior Athletics Championships will have 145 events for the athletes coming in from 32 States and Union Territories.
Among the states, Haryana has the largest group with 159 athletes, followed closely by Tamil Nadu with 150 athletes. Other states with more than 100 athletes competing include Karnataka with 142, Rajasthan with 110 and Uttar Pradesh with 107.
Assam would be fielding 78 athletes in 90 events.
Most athletes who have competed in the under-20 Federation Cup Junior Athletics Championships in Bhopal last month are set to be in Guwahati. Sunil Dawar (Madhya Pradesh) and Ankita Dhyani (Uttarakhand), who secured the men and women's 1,500-5,000m double respectively in Bhopal and triple jumper Praveen Chithravel of Tamil Nadu will be watched with more than cursory interest.
In the under-18 group, javelin throwers Vivek Kumar and Mohammed Arif Mansoor and middle-distance runner Arjun Waskale (Madhya Pradesh), Rajasthan's 110m hurdler Madhavendra Singh Shekhawat, Telangana's sprinter Jeevanji Deepthi and Nandini Agasara (100m hurdles and long jump) as well as distance runner Suprita Kachhap (Jharkhand) are some who will be in sharp focus.
With World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi, slated for August, and the fourth under-18 Asian Youth Athletics Championships slated to played in October in Kuwait, the greater limelight may well be on the two groups of athletes competing in the under-20 and under-18 categories here.