In a latest series of events, a good number of athletes and nations will compete in the 20th Asian athletics championships scheduled to be held in Pune from 3rd to 7th July.
The Asian Athletics Association (AAA) proclaimed on its website on Wednesday that the event is coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the AAA and has drawn entries from 43 of the 45 member nations including 220 women who would be witnessed in action.
As a host country, India has the maximum number of entries, with a 108-member strong subject. Remarkably, this is the second time since New Delhi hosted the championships in 1989.
According to sources, although the released entry list does not include Laos and Turkmenistan, the list will possibly undergo a change in the next two days as efforts are ongoing to reconfirm the participation of these two nations.
AAA disclosed that in fact, they have entries from these countries but it has been withheld as the travel plans of the athletes from both Laos and Turkmenistan have not been received yet. They assured that a final picture is expected to come up by Friday.
Proving wrong about initial calculations that most of the apex athletes would keep away from the meet on account of the World championships scheduled to be held in Moscow from 10th to 18th August, it is now evident from the entry list that the event at the Shiv Chhattrapati stadium in Balewadi would be a sophisticated one. Notably, the meet will be preceded by the AAA Congress on 1st July.
