Defending champion Srinu Bugatha to lead Indian challenge at Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2020
Nov 18, 2020
New Delhi [India], November 18 : The Indian contingent will put up a fierce showcase as the ADHM 2019 and Tata Mumbai Marathon 2020 winner Srinu Bugatha will lead the Indian Elite Men's category alongside Abhishek Pal, Avinash Sable and Pradeep Singh at the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2020.
Abhishek Pal and Avinash Sable carried out a thrilling race at ADHM 2018, running neck-and-neck until the final five kilometers before Pal broke away and finished as the fastest Indian in that edition. The national record holder in 3000m steeplechase - Sable became the first Indian to qualify for the Olympics since 1952 in his discipline last year.
Pradeep Singh, who won the Half Marathon race at the Tata Mumbai Marathon 2018 will also add further teeth to the competition.
The winner of the Half Marathon race at the Tata Mumbai Marathon earlier this year, Parul Chaudhary, will lead the Indian Elite Women's category along with Sanjivani Jadhav, Monika Athare and Chinta Yadav. Chaudhary broke the course record of Tata Mumbai Marathon (Half Marathon race) earlier this year with a timing of 1:15:37. She has finished second in the last two editions of the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon.
Monika Athare finished with a bronze medal in the Half Marathon race at the Tata Mumbai Marathon in January 2020. She also triumphed in the Indian Elite Women's category of the ADHM in 2016.
Chinta Yadav, who ran alongside Parul Chaudhary for most of the race at the ADHM last year, finished at third place in the event. She improved her timing by a whopping six minutes as compared to her performance in ADHM 2018.
Sanjivani Jadhav, on the other hand, has won a bronze at the 2018 Asian Cross Country Championships in China and also triumphed at the 2018 TCS World 10K Bengaluru.
"The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon will follow the highest level of safety-standards, with bio-secure zones to ensure a COVID free race for the elite runners and it will maintain all mandatory protocols in line with the advisory issued by the Government of India," the organisers said.
Adille Sumariwala, President, Athletics Federation of India said, "The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon has always set a high benchmark in road racing. It will be interesting to see our Indian athletes Srinu Bugatha, Parul Chaudhary among others make our country proud in the World Athletics Gold Label Road Race. Running alongside seasoned international names like Andamlak Belihu and Tsehay Gemechu will be a huge motivating factor for all the Indian Elite athletes. I wish them all the very best".
Supported by Government of NCT of Delhi, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Ministry of External Affairs, Sports Authority of India, Athletics Federation of India, World Athletics (WA), Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) as sponsors and partners; ADHM 2020 will once again have the best athletes from around the world, running alongside our national elite, in the heart of our capital city.
The showpiece event will start at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on November 29.
