The Games have seen some ordinary performances in the last few days in different disciplines but top Asian athletes will grace the four-day track and field events with spotlights on Sri Lanka's sprint queen Susanthika Jayasinghe and Indian long jumper Anju Bobby George.

As both the female athletes attempt to recover their form after injuries, Bangladeshi competitors will keep their fingers crossed to win their first gold medal since 1995.

Mahbub Alam won the last athletics gold for Bangladesh when he won the 200m sprint at Madras 1995 and followed it up with a silver after a painful photo finish at Kathmandu 1999. The male athletes fired blank at the Islamabad Games two year ago but the team management is pinning hopes on 110m hurdler Mahfuzur Rahman Mithu to break the jinx.

Coach Kitab Ali thinks that the squad will fare better than the one silver and two bronze medals in Pakistan.

"Our target is to win more medals than we did in Pakistan (one silver and one bronze).

"There is little chance for us in the men's sprints but the 4x100m relay team are better prepared," the coach added during yesterday training session at the main venue.

However, he was hopeful that the 'young and talented' Mahfuz is motivated to go for top honours in the 110m hurdles. The Bangladesh Air Force hurdler has a best timing of 14.10s (manual).

"If we add 0.25s to this and compare it with electronic timing, Mahfuz still looks good as the last Games gold was won in 14.34s. I wish the others have not done better than this," the coach hoped about the hurdler, who will be in action tomorrow.

Bangladesh compete in three events today, rookie Al Amin in long jump, Nazmunnahar Beauty in women's 200m and national champion Masudul Karim in the men's 200m dash.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankans have set eyes on 15 gold medals, a feat they had achieved in 1991 when the Games was first held in Colombo but India will definitely look to retain their supremacy.

The hosts will miss Damayanthi Darsha, the 200 and 400 metres Asiad and Asian Championships record holder, who had to pull out due to injury in the eleventh hour but Susanthika's return after missing the Games in Pakistan will boost their chances. They are also eager to see how young sprinter Sujani Buddhika responds to challenge in the absence of Darsha.

Like Olympic bronze medalist Susanthika, who returns to the track after a year to warm up for coming big events, India's star athlete Anju will also make a comeback to the international circuit.

The Kerala long-jumper has overcome a heel injury, which prevented her from competing this season since her second-place finish (6.46m) at the Asian Grand Prix meeting in Pune last May.

Except for a few experienced athletes, India will basically field a second-string team. The other elite Indian athletes who will be seen in action here are local national record holder and 1999 SAF Games 100m champion Anil Kumar, Pinki Paramanik, Hari Sankar Roy, Anuradha Biswal and Gurmeet Kaur.

BANGLADESH IN TODAY'S GAMES
ATHLETICS (men's): Al Amin (long jump), Masudul Karim (200m); (women's) Nazmunnahar Beauty (200m).

SHOOTING: Toufiq Shahriar Chandan (men's 50m rifle prone), Mahendra Kumar Singha (men's 10m air pistol).

KABADDI (men's/women's): Bangladesh v India.

OTHERS: judo, karate, squash, wrestling.