Yunus, Monika lead Indian charge

Seasoned campaigners Md Yunus and Monika Athare will lead the Indian challenge in the elite segment of the TCS World 10K here.

Yunus will be looking to improve on his fourth place finish last year, and going by his form this season, he has a good chance of doing so. He had won the Kolkata marathon early this year, timing two hours, 30 minutes and 33 seconds. At the Mumbai marathon he finished sixth among Indians in two hours, 23 minutes and 18 seconds.

“Last year we had a very tough race. I was struggling with the heat and had to slow down,” said Yunus. “Taking a cue from that, this year I have taken precautions to ensure that the warm conditions do not set me back. I hope my efforts pay off and I am able to better my timing and ranking from the last edition.”

Challenging Yunus in the men’s category will be last year’s runners-up Suresh Patel. He had clocked 30 minutes and 36 seconds then. National Cross Country champion Kishore M and Srinu B are the others in the elite segment.

In the women’s category, Monika, who won the half-marathon at the Mumbai marathon and the Kolkata 25K early this year, will be the one to beat while Swati Gadhawe will look to focus on improving her time of 34 minutes and 45 seconds clocked last year. Joining Monika and Swati will be Sanjeevani Jadhav, Manisha Salunke and Jyoti Chauhan.