Odisha sprint internationals Srabani Nanda and Amiya Mallick will be cynosure all eyes in respective 200m events when big-ticket track and field competition returns to the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar with the AFI Indian Grand Prix 3 taking place on May 21 (Saturday). Kalinga Stadium will also be the venue for the Grand Prix 4 on May 24.

Spotlight also could be on the triple jump and the womens throws where Abha Khatua and Manpreet Kaur (shot put), Navjeet Kaur Dhillion (discus) and Sarita Ramit Singh (hammer) will seek the limelight.

This will be the first National-level competition in India in nearly four years for 31-year-old Srabani Nanda. Using Kingston, Jamaica, as her training base, she has a creditable 23.68-second 200m in March 26 as her best this year. With the cream of Indian women sprinting talent now in Turkey, she will have to look inwards to find the pace.

There will be no such challenge at the triple jump pit which can produce high quality competition with Eldhose Paul, Abdulla Aboobacker, Karthik Unnikrishnan and Gauly Venister Devasahayam pushing one another. Eldhose Paul (16.99m) and Karthik Unnikrishnan (16.81), season leaders in India, will seek to showcase consistency.

Navjeet Kaur Dhillon will make her first appearance in a National-level discus throw competition since September 19, 2021, when she won the National Open Championships with a best effort of 54.49m. The vastly experienced Sarita Romit Singh is the only 60m-plus Hammer Thrower in the field.

The last National-level athletics competition in Bhubaneswar was the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in 2018 a year after the majestic Kalinga Stadium hosted the Asian Athletics Championships. Both IGP 3 and IGP 4 will feature competitions in eight events for men and nine for women.

IGP-3 EVENTS:
Men: 1. Pole vault, 2. 200m sprint, 3. High jump, 4. Triple jump, 5. 800m run, 6. Shot put, 7. 110m hurdles, 8. 5000m run.
Women: 1. Hammer throw, 2. Triple jump, 3. 200m sprint, 4. Shot put, 5. Discus throw, 6. 800m run, 7. High jump, 8. 100m hurdles 9. 5000m run.

IGP-4 EVENTS:
Men: 1. Discus throw, 2. 400m sprint, 3. Long jump, 4. 100m sprint, 5. Javelin throw, 6. 3000m Steeplechase, 7. 400m Hurdles, 8. 1500m run.
Women: 1. Pole vault, 2. Long jump, 3. Discus throw, 4. 400 sprint, 5. 100m sprint, 6. 3000m Steeplechase, 7. 400m Hurdles, 8. Javelin throw, 9. 1500m run.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOTO: Odisha Olympian Srabani Nanda at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar on 20 May 2022.