Steeplechaser Sable to run in season-opening Diamond League Meeting on April 26

Kenyan athlete Abraham Kibiwot challenges Indian steeplechaser Avinash Sable at Diamond League Meeting in Xiamen.

National record-holding 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable will feature in the season-opening Diamond League Meeting in Xiamen, China on April 26, which will have a top-class field, including reigning Olympic and world champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco.

Paris Olympics and World Championships bronze medallist Abraham Kibiwot of Kenya, who had beaten Sable for gold in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, is also in the fray.

Sable is competing for the first time since the Diamond League Final in September last year, where he finished ninth with a time of 8 minutes and 17.09 seconds.

The 30-year-old's national record stands at 8:09.91. He finished 11th at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games with a time of 8:14.18.

He has already qualified for the World Championships in September in Tokyo on the basis of the Paris Olympics timing.

Sable is set to miss the April 21-24 Federation Cup National Championships in Kochi, which is the final selection event for the Asian Championships in Korea next month.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has made participation in the Federation Cup mandatory for the athletes to get selected for the Asian Championships except for those who has permission to train or compete abroad.