The Hindu : Sport / Athletics : NZ junior meet from today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 25, 2007
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Sport - Athletics

NZ junior meet from today

Principal Correspondent

CHANDIGARH: A grass track awaits athletes from seven Northern States and a Union Territory in the age of synthetics, as the 19th North Zone junior athletics championship gets underway at the Panjab University ground here on Tuesday.

The three-day meet, besides finding the best talent available in this part of the country, is aimed at selecting the North Zone team for the all-India inter-zonal junior athletics championship in Guntur.

The all-India meet has been advanced to October 7 to 9 as Hyderabad prepares to host the Military World Games in the later week.

Consequently, the North Zone selectors have been tasked to pick the athletes for the zonal team on a daily basis, instead of waiting for the meet to get over.

Chandigarh last conducted an athletics meet in 2002, the under-22 National championship, which was later discontinued.

Five years down the line, the ground realities are still the same with no synthetic track in a prosperous city like Chandigarh.

The Amateur Athletic Association, Chandigarh, though hopes to have a 10-lane synthetic track in place when it next conducts an athletics meet. The Chandigarh administration has already sanctioned land for the athletics stadium with a 10-lane track and warm-up area.

The other equipment though is of international standard including the throwing appliances and track equipment.

The meet, to be conducted in four age groups — under-20, 18, 16 and 14 in boys’ and girls’ — will enjoy a first live broadcast on FM radio.

Considering that domestic athletics is watched rarely on television, the organisers have roped in Big FM to give live broadcast of the events on all three days.

It rained in Chandigarh two days ago for a while. The track is now in fine shape, but clouds hovered over the city towards the evening, leaving the organisers hoping for a bright day on the morrow.

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