Kerala too wants a Neeraj Chopra, but its capital city doesn't have a venue to host Javelin Throw

Every corner of the country is hunting for at least one more Neeraj Chopra ever since the hunk from Haryana flung himself into global fame in the javelin throw. Kerala, too, is searching for an athlete with the golden arm, but the southern state was treated to its ground reality with quite a degree of embarrassment on Thursday.

It was the first day of athletics at the Kerala State School Sports meet -- a prestigious event widely regarded as the largest of its kind in Asia, at least in India for sure -- and four qualifying events in senior and junior boys and girls categories were on the agenda. Around 8.30 am, at least 41 participants in the Senior Boys' event completed their registration at the University Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram before being driven out of the city in a bus to the SAI-Lakshmibai National College of Physical Education (LNCPE) at Karyavattom. The Senior Girls' participants followed a few hours later.

LNCPE is not one of the 12 designated venues for the meet that is being held in the state capital. The decision to shift the Javelin Throw from the proposed venue of the University Stadium was taken two days ago after a technical committee inspection ruled the synthetic turf unfit because of too much wear and tear. "The surface is damaged, and because javelin throwers need to use the runway, the technical committee suggested not conducting the event at the University Stadium," Hareesh Shankar, Sports Organiser, told Onmanorama.

In an ideal situation, the organisers could have moved the javelin throw to two other event venues, the Central Stadium and the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium. But the first one has been converted into a giant makeshift indoor facility for various games, while the field area of the latter is no longer in use for athletics because it is used for football and maintained by Super League Kerala side Thiruvananthapuram Kombans FC.

That is how LNCPE came up as a contingency plan. But there was another issue, which has left the organisers scratching their heads. "LNCPE has given permission to use their ground only between 10 am and 3 pm," said Shankar. As a result, only two of the four javelin qualifying rounds scheduled on the opening day were completed. Now the organisers are searching for another venue, and the Sreepadam Stadium at Attingal, up north and further away from the city, is an alternative. "But the decision is not made, yet," Shankar said Thursday night. 

Two more qualifying events in Javelin Throw are yet to be completed, and all four finals are scheduled on the third day of athletics, that is on Saturday. However, the organisers are still not sure where to conduct them.