NADA to take dope samples in National Sr Inter-state Athletics

Patiala: A team from the National Anti-Doping Agency will take dope samples of athletes who will participate in the 50th National Senior Inter-state Athletics Championship starting here on Thursday. Ravinder Chaudhary, officiating secretary of Athletics Federation of India, told reporters here today that the NADA had already been informed about the event and a dope testing team from Delhi will be expected any time here. The four-day championship will be the final selection trial for the Common Wealth Games as well as the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. Top Indian athletes like woman discus throwers Krishna Punia and Seema Antil and shot putter Om Parkash would be among 708 athletes to take part in the event, Chaudhary said. Other stars to take part in the championship include triple jumper Renjith Maheswary of Kerala, long jumpers Maha Singh of Punjab and Ankit Sharma of Madhya Pradesh. Among top women, sprinter HM Jyoti of Karnataka, 400m runner Mandeep Kaur of Punjab, 400m hurdler Jauna Murmu of Orissa are contesting for honours. Ajaib Singh Kaleka, president of Punjab Amateur Athletics Association, said 25 states are taking part in the meet. PTI