The Hindu : Sport / Athletics : State meet sans top athletes

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Saturday, Jul 03, 2004

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Sport - Athletics

State meet sans top athletes

By Our Sports Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JULY 2. It is supposed to be the most important meet in the State sports calendar but the 48th State senior athletic meet, which gets underway the University stadium on Saturday, will be a low key affair in the absence of top athletes.

The meet, which is the season opener for majority of the athletes, will act as selection trails for the Inter-State Athletic meet to be held in Chennai later this month. But the buzz of excitement is missing as the venue wore a deserted look on the eve of competition. The charcoal grey skies and the worn-out track at the University stadium hardly provide the right setting for the athletes to compete.

With the State top athletes busy attending the Olympic preparatory camp, the focus will be a few University stars and on Nithesh Kumar, the SAF Games gold medallist in Javelin and Preeja Sreedharan. The number of entries has also come down from the previous year with only 248 athletes confirming their participation.

Kottayam is the reigning champion but it will face tough competition from Ernakulam, which emerged winner in the men's section last year.

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