Reliance Foundation athletes aim to make their mark in Indian Open U-23 Athletics Competition

Bhubaneswar: The 4^th Indian Open U-23 Athletics Competition will see as many as 16 athletes from Reliance Foundation take part in the event, which will be held in Patna from 28th to 30th September. 10 athletes from the Odisha Reliance Foundation High Performance Centre will take part in the event, including Laxmipriya Kisan, who won silver at the SAAF Junior Athletics Championships earlier this month as well as upcoming sprinter Reyan Basha and steeplechaser Sabita Toppo.

Moumita Mondal, who was adjudged the ‘Best Female Athlete’ in the previous edition of the competition in 2023, will be taking part in the 100m hurdles and long jump events again. Moumita has been in sparkling form of late, having won silver at the National Open Athletics Championships in her first senior level competition in the heptathlon.

Speaking about the contingent, James Hillier, Athletics Director, Reliance Foundation, said, “We are excited and geared up for the U-23 nationals as a lot of our promising young athletes will be looking to impress at the event. Animesh Kujur will be in action in the 200m and based on his recent form, he will be pushing Reliance Foundation’s Amlan Borgohain’s national record in the event which stands at 20.52s. Jashbir Nayak, who won his first ever medal at the national level at the same tournament last year, a silver in the decathlon, is another one to watch out for. He will be eager to upgrade that medal to Gold this year.”

The marquee 100m sprint will see a battle between two RF athletes for glory, national record holder Manikanta Hoblidhar and the fast rising Animesh Kujur, who has already had success at the senior level too. Laxmipriya will be looking to back up her medals at the U-20 Nationals and the SAAF Junior Championships in the 800m event. The young Bhartpreet Singh will also be returning to discus throw action after recovering from injury. Tanya Chaudhary, who has been in sublime form this year, will be among the favourites in the women’s hammer throw event after having medaled at both the Inter State Championships as well as the Open Nationals earlier this year.

The other RF athletes in action at the competition will be Rathish P (110m hurdles), Rohan Kamble (men’s 400m hurdles), Reyan Basha (men’s 100m), Abhisek Dalabehera (men’s 100m), Sukhi Baskey (women’s 100m), Isha Negi (heptathlon), Dayanidhi Munda (men’s 800m and 1500m), Susmita Tigga (women’s 3000m steeplechase) and Nikhil Kumar Das (men’s high jump).