Hyderabad, Oct 09: Long jumper Anju George, Asian Games champions K M Beenamol, Neelam J Singh, tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi, Wimbledon girls doubles champions Sania Mirza and sharpshooter Anjali Bhagwat would form cream of the Indian contingent for the inaugural Afro-Asian Games set to commence here on October 24.
The astro turf would be set ablaze, when traditional rivals India and Pakistan meet. Pakistan is expected to avenge its defeat in the Asia Cup tournament, at the hands of India.
Korea and Malaysia are also expected to breath more competitive spirit into the tournament, according to a tentative schedule released by Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi here yesterday.
China is expected to send a 31-member athletics team studded with seven gold medalists, 11 runners-up and five bronze medalists from the Busan Asian Games.
Star of the Chinese team would be Chen Hajian, currently the fastest man in Asia and challenging him would be Shingo Suetsugu of Japan, who won a bronze in 200 mt sprint in the Paris World Championships.



Cameroon tops the African safari, while Iran kickstarts the Asian challenge in the classic clash of continents in football matches.


Bureau Report