G Lakshmanan, Monica aim to set TSK 25K record

Marathon
Athletes of TSK 25K Marathon on Friday. Image Source: Carpe Diem

Kolkata: Tata Steel Kolkata 25K today announced the top Indian athletes to vie for the prize purse of Rs 21,21,000 on December 18.

The first prize for both men and women would be of Rs 2,50,000 each, while the second and third for both are of Rs 1,75,000 and Rs 1,00,000 each. In addition the Procam International Pvt Ltd promoted event will shell out Rs 50,000 for course record makers. Nitinder Singh Rawat has the men’s course record with the timng of 1.19:39 hr, while the women’s record is held by Sudha Singh 1.27:31 hr.

The strong Indian contingent fighting it out for the top spot will see G Lakshmanan and Monica Athare leading the battle.

G Lakshmanan took the top spot at the recently concluded ADHM with a 1:04:37 timing, with Man Singh coming third. Both these Services athlete will be seen in action this year. “I will next compete in the Asian meet next year at Ranchi. My pet event is 5000 mts. I want to do well in that event,” Lakshmanan, who hails from Pudukkotta in Tamil Nadu, said.

G Lakshmanan from Services won gold medal in 5000m and 10000 m on the opening day of 56th Open National Athletics championship in September. Lakshmanan too successfully retained his title from the Kolkata edition last year with a time of 14:16.07. His first Open victory at this distance came in Ranchi three years ago.

He came first in the ADHM in the Indian athletes category and also bagged the first place in the Bengaluru 10k. “Fitness is good. I am in good form. I hope to win the TSK 25K this year. I will try to set a course record here,” he said adding that his target is to get gold medal in the Asian Games in 2018 in both 5000 m and 10000 m.

Also present was Elite Distance Running Programme top talent Abhishek Pal. “This is a fantastic programme. We train in Bhopal. Special emphasis is given on building endurance. I was sent to Kenya for high altitude training twice. The results showed as I won the silver in the 17th Asian Junior Athletic Meet in Vietnam and Bronze in Junior Federation Cup,” he said.

Abhishek, who also participated in the World Junior Athletic Championship in Poland,  is now preparing for the Asian Grand Prix.

Among the women’s filed, Monica Athare is leading the field of talented runners. She had recently come first in the ADHM and Hyderabad 10k and got the third position in 5000 m in the Senior Open Nationals. “Vijender Singh is my personal coach. I have improved a lot under him. Rehabilitation was a concern earlier, but now it is no longer an issue. I will try my best to win here and brak Sudha Singh’s record,” Monica said.

Lakshmanan will have company from top athletes Man Singh, Srinu Bughata and Baliappa AB. Among the women athletes Swati won the TCS World 10K Bengaluru 2016 with a timing of 34:45 will give tough competition to Monika Athare.

The Squad: 

Men: Lakshmanan G, Srinu Bugatha, Man Singh, Balliappa A B, Damor Mohan Bhai, Govind Singh, Deepak Bapu Kumhar, Oniam Sanaton, Param Singh, Tirtha Pun, Sahender Singh, Suleman, Vikas Kumar, Vinod Kumar, Anil Singh, Ram Vilas, Shubhankar Ghosh.

Women:  Monika Athare, Manisha Salunkhe, Monika Raut, Amandeep Kaur, Seema, Monika Chaudhary, Jyoti Gawte, Shyamli Singh.