Elite athletes ready to tear up the track at ASA Senior Champs

All eyes will be on sprinters and hurdlers this week as South Africa's top athletes prepare to tear up the track at the ASA Senior Track and Field Championships Relays and Multi Events to be held at MWU McArthur Athletics Stadium in Potchefstroom, North West province from Thursday to Saturday.

In both the men's and women's 100m sprints, plus the women’s 800m, exciting contests are in the making.

In the men's event, world junior champion Bayanda Walaza will turn out as the favourite after setting a national U20 record of 9.99 seconds at the Athletics Gauteng North Championships in Tshwane last month.

He will line-up against a long list of challengers including Wayde van Niekerk (400m world record holder) who will feature in the 100m and 200m races, in-form athletes Abduraghmaan Karriem, Tsebo Matsoso and Retshidisitswe Mlenga, and local favourites Benjamin Richardson.

JINGQI EYE NATIONAL TITLE

In the women's 100m dash, Viwe Jingqi will line up as the favourite in defence of her national title on home track. But she must dig deeper to hold off 17-year-old Hannah Hope Vermaak, who produced a stunning performance to beat Jingqi at the recent Golden Grand Prix in Botswana, where both athletes clocked 11.44 seconds.

One of the highlights of the competition is expected in middle-distance events, where Prudence Sekgodiso will be the headline act after winning the women 800m world indoor title earlier this season and reaching the Olympics final last year. She will need to keep an eye at Charne Swart though.

Defending champion Swart, who won the national two-lap title in the absence of her more fancied compatriot last year, will have to fight hard to keep pace with Sekgodiso, if wants to take a big scalp after setting a personal best of 1:59.45 in Tshwane last month.

Sekgodiso will also compete over 1 500m distances as favourite where she is unlikely to have much competition.

Another tight contest seems evident in the men's 400m sprint where a great race could be on the cards. Former national champion Zakithi Nene has already run under 45 seconds this year, and he will be difficult to beat.

He will be up against world junior champion Udeme Okon, who has also displayed good form this season.

Among the hurdlers, Olympic semifinalists Zeney Geldenhuys and Rogail Joseph will reignite their rivalry, which had the crowd on its feet at last year's version of championships at Pietermaritzburg, where Geldenhuys triumphed.

This week they are going head-to-head again, where they will need to ensure they avoid an upset from some of SA's rising stars, who will be snapping at their heels in the likes of Hannah van Niekerk, who earned bronze at the World Athletics U20 Championships last season and 17-year-old Tumi Ramokgopa.

In the absence of Fourie, Ramokgopa will also turn out as the favourite in the women's 100m hurdles event after setting a national junior record of 13.22 seconds at the recent ASA Grand Prix meeting in Johannesburg.

Another 17-year-old prospect, Njabulo Mbatha, will fancy his chances of beating his senior compatriots in the men's 400m hurdles event after setting a personal best of 49.06 at the recent Golden Grand Prix in Botswana. Mbatha, however, will need to beat in-form athlete Sabelo Dhlamini, who clocked 48.74 in Germiston in February, if he wants to secure the national title.

Indications are that the men's long jump will produce fireworks where the battle is wide for the SA crown. Cheswill Johnson and Nikithemba Hani have already gone over eight metres this season, and both are on the hunt.

Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Jovan van Vuuren hasn't shown his best form yet this year, but he too will be confident of putting up a super fight.

Field events will be hoping for a stand out performance where the likes of former Olympic shot put finalist Kyle Blignaut, who landed the shot at 20.32m at the Golden Grand Prix in Botswana earlier two weeks ago, expected to continue where he left off.

Former World Athletics U20 Championships high jump medallist Brian Raats, who cleared 2.21m at an indoor meeting in Slovakia in February, comes in as favourite and so is hammer thrower Leandri Holtzhausen, who broke the SA women's record when she produced a 67.95m throw at the ASA Grand Prix in Tshwane earlier this season.

The championship from Thursday is expected to keep fans at the edge of their seats despite the absence of four of the country's elite stars - Akani Simbine, Lythe Pillay, Marione Fourie and Jo-Ane du Plessis, who will be focussing on the Diamond League meeting in Xiamen, China on Saturday