Medals expected from Prajakta, Adarsh, Neha

Nagpur

In the 72nd Maharashtra State Senior Athletics Championship starting on Saturday at Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University synthetic track, hosts Nagpu is expected medals from Prajakta Godbole, Adarsh Bhure, Neha Dhabale, Bhavyashree Mahalle, Riya Dohatre, Ashutosh Bavane, Chaitali Borekar, Sakshi Tambakhe. If Nayan Sarde and Tejaswini Lambakane perform at their best, they too have a chance of a medal.

Nagpur had to settle for only three medals in the competition held in Pune last year. Rajan Yadav won bronze in the 3000m steeplechase race and Prajakta Godbole won the silver medal in the women's 10000m race. Also, the women's 4-400 relay team got a bronze medal. However, since the performance of Nagpur players has improved a lot this year compared to last year, at least 7-8 medals are expected. All eyes will be on Prajakta Godbole in the women's 10,000m race. She recently won a bronze medal in the Federation Cup and will be challenged by international sprinter Sanjeevani Jadhav from Nashik. As the participation of Satara's Reshma Kevata is uncertain, the tussle will be mainly between Sanjeevani and Prajakta for the gold medal. 19 entries have been received in the race and Prajakta can benefit from the atmosphere of Nagpur. Apart from this, Tejaswini Lambkane of Nagpur, Vaishnavi Kasture of Nanded, Archana Jadhav of Mumbai suburbs, Sistema Shegaonkar of Buldana can make a lot of names.

Last year, Neha Dhabale won a bronze medal in the 400m hurdles race in the 23-year-old age group competition and won a silver medal in the Khelo India competition. A medal is expected from her as her performances have improved tremendously in the last two years. She narrowly missed out on a bronze medal last year. This year she will be challenged by Shweta Chikodi of Kolhapur, Leena Kohle, Isha Negi of Mumbai suburbs, Shravani Sangle of Nashik. There are only 12 players in this and Bhuvaneshwari Masram is the second Nagpurkar player.

While the women's 4x400m relay team has a chance at a gold medal, they need to pick the right athletes. Because Neha Dhabale, Sakshi Tambakhe and Bhuvaneshwari Masram are regular players of 400m. Bhavyashree Mahalle had defeated Bhubaneswari in the test. Apart from this, Chaitali Borekar and Riya Dohatre are there. However, as the relay final will be held immediately after the 800m and steeplechase finals, it may dangerous to allow both the athletes to run in relay event. . Apart from this, the performance of Shadab Pathan, Rajan Yadav, Sourav Tiwari will also be watched.

Challenge before Adarsh

Adarsh Bhure, who created history by winning the silver medal in the 100m race in the All India Inter University Championship, won the 100 and 200m races in the State Inter University Championship at the same ground. However, he is aware that the competition in the senior category is challenging. Especially Pune's Pranav Gurav is considered to be the main contender for the gold medal. All eyes will be on the performance of Saurabh Netam of Akola, Jai Shah of Mumbai city, Ajay Khade of Kolhapur, Aryan Francis of Pune, Kiran Bhosale of Satar, Harsh Raut of Thane. With all these athletes reaching the finals of various national events, the 100m race is expected to be fast.

A chance for two medals in the steeplechase

The women's steeplechase race consists of only nine runners. There are three of them from Nagpur. Among them Riya Dohtare has won medal in Inter University Championship and Anjali Madavi has won medal in Khelo India Youth Games. National champion Komal Jagdale from Nashik is the leading runner in this race and Riya, Anjali have to beat her. And Nagpur's third runner Tripti Patle will have to do her best.

Yamini Vs Bhavyashree

In the women's 1500m race, Yamini Thakre originally from Nagpur, currently serving in the police force in Pimpri Chinchwad and representing Akola district, is a contender. She clocked the fastest time of 4. 26 minutes in the state police sports competition in February. So to defeat her Khelo India Youth Games gold medalist Bhavyashree Mahalle of Nagpur, Srishti Redekar of Kolhapur, Disha Borse of Nashik, Ashwini Jadhav of Parbhani, Shivechha Patil of Pune, Vaishnavi Sawant of Satar will have to perform well.