By Sushant Singh
The final leg of the Indian Series before the Indian Series Final is scheduled to take place on 2 September at the newly built Kailash Prakash Sports Stadium, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
This will be the first national-level tournament at Meerut’s first synthetic track. The city is known to have produced the most medals in athletics at the Asian level.
The Indian Series-15 has received a bumper entry.
The single-day meet will feature 24 events — 12 for men and 12 for women — with more than 600 entries.
The Men’s 100m has received the biggest entry, with around 70 athletes, followed by the Men’s 1,500m with around 65 athletes and the Men’s 400m with around 63 athletes. These three events account for a significant portion of the total entries.
Athletes to Look Out For
Asian Athletics 2025 400m silver medallist Rupal Chaudhary will finally begin her 2026 season at Indian Series-15 on 2 September in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.
The 22-year-old has been out of competition since 2025 due to injury and is now set to make her long-awaited comeback.
Rupal has been training at the NCOE Trivandrum.
Sources in AFI indicate that her performance in Meerut could determine whether she gets an opportunity to compete at the Indian Series Final.
Her timings in both competitions could also put her in contention for a place in India’s women’s 4×400m relay squad for the Asian Games 2026.
2) Mijo Chacko Kurian
The 2023 Budapest World Championships relay team member will also be competing in both the 200m and 400m, representing the Indian Air Force.
Chacko has clocked a season-best time of 46.15s this season, which is close to his PB of 46.10s. His SB places him 9th on the current 2026 Men’s 400m list.
The Men’s 4×400m relay team has yet to be announced officially. He will be looking to make the Top 6 this season, although he will likely need to clock a sub-46-second performance to achieve that.
3) Rishabh Nehra
The 80m javelin thrower will also be competing at this meet.
Nehra, who has been struggling with his form this season, has only managed 65.67m and has competed in just one competition.
Last season at the Open Nationals, he clinched the gold medal with a massive PB of 80.12m, joining the elite 80m club. But since then, he has failed to breach the 80m mark.
Nehra, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, will be looking to regain some of his form in his home state.
The Reliance sprinter breached the 200m Asian Games standard at the Interstate Championships, registering a huge lifetime best of 23.14s in the women’s 200m.
She will be competing in the 100m at this event.
This season, she has already clocked PBs in both the 100m and 200m. It has been a very interesting season for the 23-year-old.
5) Aishwarya B
Returning after her doping ban, Aishwarya will be competing in the women’s triple jump at this meet.
This will be her third competition since her return. She made her comeback at Indian Series-13, registering a 5.63m mark to finish sixth.
In her last competition, she breached the 6m mark, registering a 6.01m jump to finish third.