Sports News | Parasappa Hajilol, Sonika to Face Stiff Challenge in Title Defence at National Cross Country C'ships
Get latest articles and stories on Sports at LatestLY. Parasappa Mahadevappa Hajilol and Sonika will face stiff challenge from their rivals when they step up to defend their men and women crowns respectively at the 56th National Cross Country Championships, here on Saturday.
Kohima, Mar 25 (PTI) Parasappa Mahadevappa Hajilol and Sonika will face stiff challenge from their rivals when they step up to defend their men and women crowns respectively at the 56th National Cross Country Championships, here on Saturday.
Both were underdogs before emerging winners in Panchkula in the last edition.
Parasappa Mahadevappa Hajilol can expect 2020 champion Abhishek Pal and Adesh Yadav, bronze medalist last year, as well as a host of others to try and wear him down. Sonika will face the additional responsibility to help Railways wrest the women's team title from Haryana.
Hosted by the Nagaland Athletics Association, the eight-event championships across age-groups is being held concurrently with the South Asian Cross Country Championships with 42 overseas competitors, including 21 women from Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka in the field. It is the first an international sports competition is being hosted in Nagaland.
Besides the usual contest for the top honours between teams from Services, led by Darshan Singh and Hari Singh, and Railways in the men's section, the battle for individual title could be pepped up by the presence of Haryana's Prince Nagar, the men's U-20 champion in Panchkula.
In the women's section, the fight for the team title would be among defending champion Haryana, fielding a new-look squad, powerhouse Railways and Maharashtra.
Sonika, who has moved from Haryana to Railways, will face Komal Chandrakant Jagdale, Vijay Raut, her own team-mate Varsha Devi, and Rebi Pal.
The races, which will start and finish at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, will offer the participants the challenge of some undulating terrain and different surfaces.
The depth in the entry list has given rise to expectations that quality of competition could be high, especially in the men and women's 10km races.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)