Top Indian athletes will be playing for the Asian Games 2023 qualification during the five-day National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships, which will start from Thursday in Bhubaneswar.

It is the 62nd edition of the event and will serve as the final selection trial for Asian Games to be held later this year from September 23 to October 8 in China.

Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and steeplechase athlete Avinash Sable were granted exemption from this event by Athletics Federation of India (AFI). All other athletes will be present at the meet and will attempt to get through the Asian Games qualifying standards set by AFI.

For those who have already qualified for the Asian Games, this event will provide them with some valuable game time.

Murali Sreeshankar, a Commonwealth Games 2022 silver medalist and national record holder Jeswin Aldrin will be aiming for the top spot in the men`s long jump event.

Both have had strong performances in the 2023 athletics season. While the eighth-ranked athlete in the world, Murali Sreeshankar, finished third in the Paris Diamond League earlier this month, Jeswin Aldrin`s 8.42-meter leap from March is the second-best effort in the world, trailing only Markus Rehm of Germany`s 8.50-meter leap from June.

The men`s triple jump event is also a highly-staked event, featuring CWG medalists Eldhose Paul and Abdulla Aboobacker and national record winner Praveen Chithravel.

Young javelin throwers Rohit Yadav, Vikrant Malik and DP Manu will be aiming for the top prize in the absence of Neeraj Chopra.

The national record holders in various sports like Tajinderpal Singh Toor (men`s shot put), Amiya Kumar Mallick (men`s 100m), Amlan Borgohain (men`s 200m) and Jinson Johnson (men`s 1500m) will be looking forward to dominating their respective sports.