THEBUSINESSBYTES BUREAU

BHUBANESWAR, JUNE 23, 2026

More than 50 athletes supported by Reliance Foundation will be aiming to secure their places in India’s contingent for the upcoming Asian Games in Japan when they compete at the 65th National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships, scheduled at the world-class Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar from June 24 to 28.

The prestigious championships serve as a crucial qualification event for the Asian Games and are expected to feature some of the country’s finest track and field talent.

Speaking about the contingent, James Hillier, Athletics Director at Reliance Foundation, said, “The Inter State Championships double up as a qualification for Asian Games and a number of our athletes have already breached the qualification standard for the Asian Games. Those athletes will be focused on finishing in the top two and sealing their spot in the Indian team for the Asian Games. We are hoping for some personal bests and season bests as we have trained in a manner that allows most of our athletes to peak at this competition.

 “We have a couple of very exciting young sprinters in Abhay Singh, Harita Bhadra and Unnathi Ayyapa, who have an outside chance of making a push for the Asian Games. The men’s 110m hurdles event will be one to watch out for with Tejas Shirse, who’s fresh off a national record of 13.27s, being pushed by his training partner Krishik Manjunath. A 1-2 finish here will see them board the plane to Japan. In the men’s 400m hurdles event, Yashas has the potential to push for the national record which stands at 48.80s currently. He is definitely one to watch very closely.”

Ideal Preparation for Commonwealth Games

The championships will also provide valuable competitive exposure to several Commonwealth Games-bound athletes, including Animesh Kujur, Tejas Shirse, Yashas Palaksha and Murali Sreeshankar, as they continue their preparations for the marquee multi-sport event.

Jyothi Yarraji’s much-awaited Return

One of the major attractions of the meet will be the return of India’s star hurdler Jyothi Yarraji, who is set to compete in her first event of 2026 after recovering from a serious ACL injury that kept her sidelined for more than a year.

Jyothi will be looking to regain top form and secure qualification for the Asian Games in both the 100m hurdles and 200m events. Also returning to competition will be national long jump record holder Jeswin Aldrin, who is expected to renew his rivalry with Murali Sreeshankar in a battle for top honours.

Animesh Kujur on Home Turf

With national record holder Gurindervir Singh absent from the championships, Odisha’s own Animesh Kujur will start as the favourite on home turf and will be targeting a sprint double in the 100m and 200m events.

Other Reliance Foundation athletes expected to challenge for Asian Games qualification include Ancy Sojan (women’s long jump), Seema (women’s 5,000m and 10,000m), Damneet Singh (men’s hammer throw), Harshita Sehrawat (women’s hammer throw), Mohammed Afsal P (men’s 800m) and Krishna Jayasankar Menon (women’s shot put).

Reliance Foundation-supported athletes have enjoyed an outstanding 2026 season, with Gurindervir Singh, Sawan Barwal, Tejas Shirse, Tejaswin Shankar and Animesh Kujur all setting national records during the year.