A colourful ceremony marked the official opening of the 20th Asian Athletics Championships here but Suresh Kalmadi, the former president of the Asian Athletics Association, stayed away from the function.
Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan inaugurated the championships, in which close to 600 athletes from 43 Asian nations are participating.
Kalmadi, being the Member of Parliament from Pune, was listed among the guests but he decided not to put in an appearance.
Kalmadi had lost the elections to the AAA president’s post on Tuesday to Qatar’s Dahlan Al Hamad.
Published 02 July 2013, 19:22 IST