Inter-state meet: Top stars chase Tokyo berths

The National Inter State Athletics meet starting in Chennai on Wednesday will be the last opportunity for Indian athletes to book their places for the World Championships in Tokyo.

- Avishek Roy

The Worlds’ cutoff date is August 24, which will be the last day of the five-day domestic meet in Chennai.

There will be a lot of excitement around 200m sprinter Animesh Kujur, who is inside the qualification cutoff through Road to Tokyo rankings (rank 42 out of 48 possible entries) and would be looking to bolster his chances in Chennai towards making his debut at the World Championships.

Kujur has attracted eyeballs this season, producing fast timings in a discipline where Indians do not have much of a pedigree. At the Asian Championships in Gumi, he won bronze, shattering the national record (20.32s).

Similar buzz will be around seasoned long jumper Murali Sreeshankar, who came close to