4 TN athletes in squad for World U20 meet

Chennai: Four athletes from Tamil Nadu have been picked in the 43-member Indian contingent for the World Athletics U20 Championships, scheduled in Peru from August 27 to 31.
Abinaya Rajarajan (women’s 100m and women’s 4x100m relay), Karthik Raja (men’s 400m hurdles), Hariharan Kathiravan (men’s 110m hurdles) and Kanista Teena (women’s 4x400m relay) have been selected from the state to compete in the biennial showpiece.
Abinaya will be one of the bright prospects to watch out for. The 18-year-old Abinaya, hailing from Tirunelveli, has competed three times in the Asian Championships (in different age groups) and will make her maiden appearance in the world meet.
“I missed out on making it to the 100m event at the Asian junior meet in Dubai earlier this year, but for the world junior meet, I surpassed the qualifying mark (11.78 seconds) in the trials held in Bengaluru. I want to make full use of the opportunity now. The target will be to breach my personal-best mark of 10.60s and reach the final,” Abinaya told TOI.
Abinaya, who has won three medals in the Asian junior and youth meets, is the only woman from the country to compete in 100m at the World U20 Championships.
Abinaya is hoping for an improved performance from the women’s 4x100m relay team, after the Indian quartet was disqualified due to an incorrect baton exchange in Asian juniors in Dubai. “We are training hard and are making sure that we do not repeat the same mistake which we committed in Dubai. We have a good team and are clocking close to 44s in training. There is a good chance of us making it to the final and reaching the top-six,” Abinaya added.
In the men’s 400m hurdles event, Karthik achieved qualification by clocking 52.76s in the Indian Grand Prix (IGP) III competition in Bengaluru. Karthik started his career as a football player and represented Tamil Nadu (U-14 team) in the School Games. He then shifted his focus to athletics five years ago. “After not showing improvement in football, my coach recommended that I take up athletics. I am 6 feet tall and I thought that the hurdles event would suit my physique. The top athletes will be competing in the global meet and I will aim to finish under 51s,” said Karthik.
Athletes from TN have made a mark in the previous editions of the World Junior Championships.
Bharath Sridhar won bronze in the 4x400m mixed relay event in Kenya in 2021, while triple jumper Selva Prabhu clinched silver in Colombia in 2022.