SPO-MARATHON-INDIANS

Last year's top Indian finishers,

T Gopi and Sudha Singh, and holder of the course record among

home country men, Nitendra Singh Rawat, are all set to steal

the show in the Tata Mumbai Marathon on January 20.

Asian champion Gopi and Rawat will face tough

challenge in the men's race from Karan Singh, the best Indian

finisher in 2014 and 2015, race organisers, Procam

International, announced on Friday.

The 2017 Asian Champion (2:15:31) T Gopi's best

performance came at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he clocked

2:15:25, the fastest by an Indian on foreign soil.

Rawat, who clocked 2:15:18 in the South Asian Games in

2016 and the national record holder in the half marathon is

expected to be a strong challenger along with the recent Vasai

Virar Marathon winner Karan, who clocked 2:22:17.

The women's contingent will be led by 2018 Asian Games

steeplechase silver medalist Sudha Singh and two-time top

Indian finisher, Jyoti Gawte.

Sudha has geared up for the 42.1 km race by bagging

the second place amongst the Indian women at the Tata Steel

Kolkata 25K in 2018 clocking 1:25:11.

Monika Raut, who bagged the second place in National

Delhi Marathon 2016 and 6th place amongst Indian women at the

Tata Steel 25K in 2017 with timings 2:55:39 and 1:36:08, will

also be a strong contender in the women's field.

In the half marathon category, the men's group will be

led by Kalidas Hirave and Man Singh.

In the women's half marathon category, Manju Yadav and

Saigeeta Naik are among the primary contenders for a podium

finish.

The top three Indian finishers stand to win Rs

5,00,000, Rs 4,00,000 and Rs 3,00,000 respectively in the full

marathon and Rs 1,50,000, Rs 1,00,000 and Rs 75,000 in the

half marathon. There is also a course record jackpot of Rs 2

lakh for the Indian runners.