World Athletics U-20 Championships Day 3 Preview: Ajai and Jai look for medals

Medal favourite Shaili Singh also begins her campaign on Friday.

A great start from the Indian contingent at the World Athletics U-20 Championships as the Indian Mixed Relay team 4x400m won a historic bronze medal. The quartet of Kapil, Priya Mohan, Summy and Bharat Sridhar clocked 3:20.60 to finish the race just behind Nigeria and Poland. 

This early medal will lift the morale of the Indian athletes who will also hit the tracks later at the Kasarani Stadium in the Kenyan capital. On Day 3, plenty of exciting Indian talents will be on display as most of them will look to replicate the heroics of Neeraj Chopra in 2016 or Hima Das in 2018, when they both won the gold medal in their respective disciplines at this same event.

Here are the list of Indian athletes who will be in action on Day 3:

Women’s 100m hurdles heats (Nandini Agasara) - 11:45 AM IST

Hailing from Telangana, Nandini Agasara has fought with several adversities to rise at this level. She clocked 13.88 seconds at the Federation Cup earlier this year. She then bettered her timing with a 13.70 seconds at the National Inter State Senior Athletics Championship. Agasara is definitely one of the athletes to watch out for. 

Men’s 110m hurdles heats (Tejas Shirse) - 12:25 PM IST

The 19-year-old hurdler will be the sole representative for India in the Men's 110 Hurdles at the World Athletics U-20 Championships. He clocked 13.78 seconds at the Indian U20 Championships held in Sangrur. 

Women’s 1500m heats (Pooja) - 1:00 PM IST

The Haryana based long distance runner will be in action tomorrow for India. She won the U20 Indian Championships and clocked 4:23.38 which helped her secure a berth at the World Athletics U-20 Championships. Pooja will look to ace the heats and reach the finals and then take it from there. 

Women’s long jump qualification (Shaili Singh) - 1:25 PM IST

One of India's top medal prospects in this event, Shaili Singh is a product of the Anju Bobby George Foundation. The 17-year-old long jumper is coached by the legendary Robert Robby George. Her longest jump of 6.48m puts her in fifth among the competition at the Junior Championships. Shaili will look to start well and carry that momentum to the finals of the World Athletics U-20 Championships .  

Men’s 200m heats (Shanmuga Srinivas Nalubothu) - 2:10 PM IST

Shanmuga Nalubothu will be India's only representative at the Men's 200m at the World U-20 Athletics Championships. His best timing came at the Indian U-20 Championship when he clocked 21.02. 

Men’s javelin throw final (Kunwer Ajai Raj Singh Rana & Jay Kumar) - 4:50 PM IST

Both Kunwer Ajai Raj Singh and Jay Kumar qualified for the World Athletics U-20 Championships Javelin throw finals after finishing sixth and seventh in the qualifiers respectively. The Indian duo will look to up the ante in the finals in search of a medal. There are a lot of hopes from Ajai Raj Singh as he has been one of the talked about athletes ahead of the Championships.  

Men’s 3000m steeplechase heats (Sunil Joliya) - 4:59 PM IST

A talented steeplechaser, Sunil Joliya will look to shineat the World U-20 Athletics Championships. His first aim will be to do well at the heats and qualify for the finals. He clocked 8:55.48 in the 3000m steeplechase at the Federation Cup 2021 which was held in Patiala. 

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