Bengaluru: Procam International announcing the list of elite Indian athletes to run the TCS World 10K, scheduled for May 15th 2016, confirmed the participation of 2016 Olympic aspirants, Nitendra Singh Rawat and Kheta Ram, along with defending champion Suresh Patel who clocked a time of 29:49 to win last year's edition. Leading the women's brigade will be, defending champion L. Surya and last year's runner-up and Federation Cup 2016 winner Swati Gadhave.
Nitendra Singh Rawat, will be running the TCS World 10K to gauge his performance ahead of the Olympics, where he will be participating in the marathon event, having secured a spot earlier this year at the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon with a course record time of 2:15.48.
Close on their heels will be G Lakshmanan who set 29:57.44 on the clock at the 2016 Federation Cup in New Delhi. MD Yunus who is also fresh from his 2016 Federation Cup exploits will look at lowering his timing of 29:59.69 in the 10000 metres at the 2016 Federation Cup, almost half a second faster than Kheta Ram (30:01.66) at the same event and could definitely be competition to look out for this race.
"I am hoping to repeat my winning performance from last year with the conditions remaining more or less the same. There should be good competition out in the field when the race is flagged- off," said Suresh Patel, who will be looking to defend his title.
With a difference of only a few seconds between last year's champion Suresh Patel and Kheta Ram, Sunday could see the lead changing hands throughout the course that weaves through Bengaluru.
The women will also set the track ablaze with the defending champion L. Surya returning to fend off any challengers, setting a time of 35:58 in the 2015 edition and recently securing the gold with a time of 15:39 in the 5000 metres event at the 2016 Federation Cup. Last year's silver medalist, Swati Gadhave who clocked 36:15, will look at a repeat or better performance from her 2016 Federation Cup timing of 32:53 in the 10000 metres.
Lining up amongst the women will also be Sanjeevani Jadhav who clocked 34:43 in the 10000 metres event at the 2016 Federation Cup, first runner-up of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, Manisha Salunkhe (01:19:17), and second runner-up Monika Athare (01:20:08) along with and Kiran Sahdev clocking 1:20:51 who will all be looking to make their mark in one of India's premier 10K runs.
"The course will be tough coupled with the changing weather conditions and the closeness of the field this year. The Federation Cup results were brilliant and everyone has a chance to cross the finish line first. I will have to work harder to make sure to retain my title come 15th May," said L Surya.
All will be gunning for a share of the total prize pot of US$ 197,768, with INR 2,50,000 each going to the men's and women's race winners.
