The Hindu : Sport / Athletics : Junior Federation Cup gets underway today

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Thursday, Nov 03, 2005

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Sport - Athletics

Junior Federation Cup gets underway today

Principal Correspondent

KOCHI: It would not be surprising if the athletes and officials who have landed here for the sixth Junior Federation Cup have an intense prayer meeting at the Sacred Heart Church opposite the championship venue.

"We're just praying that there's no rain tonight. We don't know what we'd do if it rains," said Tony Daniel, the Technical Director of the two-day meet which begins at the Sacred Heart College's Lake View Stadium in Thevara on Thursday.

When the Kerala Athletics Association took up the event early this year, it had planned to host it on a new synthetic track in Kochi. But with the track-laying work yet to start, owing to procedural problems, the association desperately turned to the SH College's grass track which will now make its national debut.

Things are not exactly bright off the track too. Just eleven teams have landed for the meet, which is an under-20 affair. Rain and train cancellations, especially in Andhra Pradesh, have hit the event in a big way. The Open National that begins in Hyderabad on Monday is another reason for some of the big names staying away. Nearly 500 athletes were supposed to be present here but it looks like the attendance may not even cross half that number.

Defending champion Tamil Nadu has come with the biggest team. And there are some very promising names too, like hurdler R. Sankari, long jumper A. Amalanathan and triple jumper K. Revathi. Kerala has a 50-member side this time. Strong in sprints and jumps, the host's list of stars includes P.K. Anoop, Freji Jose, M.A. Prajusha, Resmi Bose, A.K. Saranya and Bineesh.

The conditions may be tough and the grass track may not exactly suit their taste but young stars have a wonderful knack of springing a surprise or two. That's the nice thing about sport.

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