Reigning Asian Games gold medalist woman sprinter Guzel Khubbieve of Uzbekistan and Asian champion discus thrower Ehsan Hadadi of Iran will lead a pack of international stars in the Asian All-Star Athletics Meet to be held here from July 29-30. National record holder triple jumper Renjith Maheswary,promising shot putter Om Prakash and woman discus thrower Krishna Poonia will lead the Indian challenge in the Commonwealth test event to be held at the renovated Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The two-day meet will have athletes from 17 Asian nations. In the womens 100m sprint,Khubbieve will be challenged by Yulia Gavrilova of Kazakhstan double gold medalist in this years Asian Junior Championships and Indias HM Jyothi,winner of 2008 edition of the meet in Bhopal. In mens discus throw,India will field United States-based Vikas Gowda who have made a comeback with a performance of 63.22m. He will up against reigning Asian champion Ehsan Hadadi of Iran,who holds the continental record of 69.32m and recently recorded a seasons best of 68.45m in Tehran. In womens discus,Indian throwers are a cut above the rest with Krishna Poonia leading the challenge with a season leading 61.64m recorded in USA. Om Prakash Singh,the current Asian champion,led the list in mens shot put along with teammates Satyendra Singh and Saurabh Vij. Amin Nikfar from Iran,the Asian Indoor Games victor,and Grigoriy Kamulya of Uzbekistan are expected to provide a tough fight to the Indians. In mens triple jump,Renjith Maheswary,the former Asian champion,would log horns with Kazakhstans Yevgeniy Ektov,the bronze medalist in last years Asian Championships at Guangzhou and defending Asian All-star Meet victor at Bhopal. Joseph Abraham,the World Championship semi-finalist in 400m hurdles at Osaka in 2007,unbeaten in Asian Grand Prix this year is aiming high with better marks at Delhi. In womens 800m,Tintu Luka the prodigy of PT Usha is gearing up for a challenge from compatriot Sushma Devi and Ayako Jinnouchi of Japan. In mens 800m,World University Games champion Sajad Moradi,who made another clean sweep of medals in the three-leg Asian Grand Prix on Indian soil earlier this year,is likely to rule once again. The womens long jump will be another attraction as multi-event specialist Yulia Tarasova of Uzbekistan,Bhopal champion Priyadarshini of Sri Lanka and the trio of Indian jumpers M A Prajusha,Mayookha Johny and Reshmi Bose areall set to make it a tough contest.
