All eyes on Anu Kumar as India looks to book quota spots for Youth Olympics

All eyes will be on 800m runner Anu Kumar at the Youth Olympics Asian Area qualification leg which begins here tomorrow.

Kumar is one of 21 Indian athletes -- 10 men and eight women -- who will be looking to secure qualification in the Youth Olympic Games to be held in Buenos Aires in October. A total of 89 quota places are up for grabs in the tournament in Thailand.

Competing in the 800m, Asian junior champion Kumar will have to be on his best as only the top two finishers will qualify for the Youth Olympics. The 16-year-old from Uttarakhand is in strong form, having won a gold medal at the 18th Junior Championships in Gifu, Japan last month by clocking 1:54.11.

Kumar, one of the brightest prospects in middle distance running in India, had won a silver in 800m at the World School Games in France and had clocked a personal best time of 1:50.60 to take gold at the Junior Federation Cup in April.

Kumar's compatriot Sreekiran Nandakumar will also be hoping for better luck than he had at the Junior Asian Championships in Gifu. Nandakumar had qualified for the final of the 800m with a time of 1:54.51 seconds but could not take part in the medal race after suffering what the team manager had said was a severe migraine.

Also looking to impress would be sprinter Nisar Ahmad. The 16-year-old from New Delhi broke the national U-16 records in the 100m and 200m last year and has continued to impress ever since.

Ahmad has improved his personal best in 100m to 10.76 seconds. He has a personal best of 21.73seconds in 200m. Ahmad travelled to Jamaica earlier this year to train under Usain Bolt's coach Glenn Mills and will be looking to apply that knowledge in his future races.

He has a very good chance of winning a Youth Olympics spot with the top eight athletes here earning the quota. Ahmed though will have a tougher task in the 200m with only four quota spots available.

Meanwhile, the women athletes will have their task cut out with only 32 quota places up for grabs (as compared to 57 spots for men).

Junior Federation Cup winner Deepanshi Singh of Uttar Pradesh will have to improve on her 7th place finish at the Junior Asian Championships if she is to qualify for the Youth Olympics with just one quota spot in the women's long jump competition.