Lord Hanuman will be the official mascot of the Asian Athletics Championships

'Lord Hanuman' will be the official mascot of this year's edition of the Asian Athletics Championships tournament, which begins in Thailand's capital Bangkok on Wednesday. The tournament is being organized to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the continental governing body.

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Announcing this on its website, the Asian Athletics Association said, "The 25th Asian Athletics Championships 2023 logo indicates the athletes participating in the games, skills, teamwork of athletes, showcase of athleticism, dedication, and sportsmanship." The logo of the 25th Asian Athletics Championships 2023 depicts the athletes participating in the Games, showcasing their skill, teamwork, athleticism, dedication, and sportsmanship.

The 25th edition of the Asian Athletics Championships is here. India will be hoping for impressive performances in the tournament led by star shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor and long jumper Murali Sreeshankar. The Indian team left from Delhi and Bengaluru on Saturday night for the five-day Asian Athletics Championships.

Toor broke the Championships and Asian Games mark at the Federation Cup in Ranchi in May, before bettering his own Asian and national records with a throw of 21.77m at the Nationals. While Murali Sreeshankar, who registered a personal best jump of 8.41m leap at the Nationals last week, and national record holder Jeswin Aldrin will represent India in the men's long jump event.

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Meanwhile, Olympic Champion Neeraj Chopra and Commonwealth Games medallist Avinash Sable will not be a part of the Indian team at the Asian Athletics Championships 2023 in Bangkok. Chopra and Sable are currently abroad, training for the World Championship schedule in August. Triple jumper Praveen Chithravel and javelin thrower Rohit Yadav, have also pulled out of the upcoming season due to different reasons.

The absence of Chithravel, who achieved three 17m-plus jumps this year, and Rohit, who breached 81m thrice this season and got his best two throws (83.40m in the Federation Cup in Ranchi in May and 83.28m in the Inter-state meet in Bhubaneswar in June) recently, is a big setback for the country.